Towards a Poietics of Chance: The Live Fresco-performances of the Living Theatre

Vers une poïétique du hasard : les fresques vivantes du Living Theatre

Frédéric Lefrançois (1)

1 CRILLASH - Centre de Recherches Interdisciplinaires en Lettres, Langues, Arts et Sciences Humaines [UE6_2]

The Living Theatre's live performances have bequeathed to art performers a treasure trove of bold innovations to boost their imaginative powers. Its leaders, the two American 'enfants terribles' known as Julian Beck and Judith Malina, have indeed experimented with form and political discourse in a radical way throughout the long and tumultuous career of the troop. And the results of this commitment are here for all to see: dramatic performance has departed from its traditional realistic and 'bourgeois' paradigms and freedom of expression is the absolute motto of contemporary. To understand the impact of this political and artistic revolution, therefore, is to encompass within the new mindset of the 1970s the wind of change, the irresistible rise of a rebel youth with a cause. This paper intends to show in a synthetic way how the transformation of the performing arts realized in Europe thanks to the seminal influence of the Living Theatre has born fruit which can still be tasted today.

Mots clés: hippies; revolution; 70s; 1970s; drama; performance; participative theatre; beatniks; Living Theatre; Judith Malina; Julian Beck

Mots clés: art-performance; Théâtre-20e-21e siècle; Art -- Au cinéma; Art-Aspect social; Performance Events; Théâtre participatif; Théâtre américain; théatre de rue; Théâtre-Etude et enseignement; Théâtre-20e siècle

Domaines: Psychologie; Etudes sur le genre; Musique, musicologie et arts de la scène; Littératures; Art et histoire de l'art; Héritage culturel et muséologie

Frédéric Lefrançois. Vers une poïétique du hasard : les fresques vivantes du Living Theatre. Recherches en esthétique : revue du CEREAP, 2017. ⟨hal-01818319⟩