Seven Meditations on Political Sadomasochism [Sette Meditazioni Sul Sadomachismo Politico]

Rome: Comune di Roma, Circa 1979. Vintage poster for an Italian staging of the 1974 groundbreaking American experimental theatre production. Staged in Rome at the Teatro Alberico, circa 1979.

Founded in 1947 in New York by Julian Beck and Judith Malina, The Living Theatre is the oldest active experimental theater group in the United States. In the fifties and sixties the company became an epicenter for revolutionary culture, performing both original and repertory works.

"Seven Meditations" was largely written in response to the imprisonment of several members of the company under the Medici dictatorship in Brazil in 1971, drawing on their experiences of suppression and torture in the Brazilian prison system. The show addressed seven different types of actions, relationships, or statements governed by power, including sexuality, capitalism, private property, and law enforcement, and attempted to begin a dialogue with audience members regarding ways to move forward from these dynamics.

As with many of the group's performances, "Seven Meditations" proved controversial, and even courted obscenity charges, largely due to a section of the show depicting a simulated torture scene—as shown in the poster on offer.

39 x 55 inches. Rolled. Very Good plus.

[Book #162878]