Judith Malina - Full Moon Stages: Personal Notes from 50 Years of the Living Theatre

HIGH PRAISE FOR JUDITH MALINA AND FULL MOON STAGES I CAN NEVER OVERSTATE THE INFLUENCE Julian and Judith have had on my formation as an actor and activist and my gratitude is deep and eternal. MARTIN SHEEN, award-winning actor HER STAMINA WAS EXTRAORDINARY. She was happy, buoyant, and spread the love. ANGELICA HUSTON, award-winning actor A MAGICAL DIARY: PITHY, SALIENT. Shows the great arc of an ever radiant revolutionary artist and activist. Judith Malina is still out in the vast sky of our Utopian Living Theatre hearts and minds.

ANNE WALDMAN, award-winning poet and performer IF ONE WANTS TO HAVE A LIFE as a woman artist, first of all read Judith Malinathis lovely and evocative FULL MOON STAGESand imbibe the illuminating photos, her diaries, her poems, her translation of Brechts Antigone, her book about her teacher, Erwin Piscator. She was one of the greatest theater makers of the twentieth into the twenty-first century, and one of the most fascinating, brilliant women of the world. If one wants to be an artist (period). Read Judith Malina. This book will gain you entry into her seldom serene, always celestial world where all was grist for the imaginative life. KAREN MALPEDE, award-winning playwright FOR THE PEOPLE WHO KNEW Judith Malina in life nothing can fill the absence of that most vibrant, profound, quixotic, being but this book, FULL MOON STAGES is a Fattura, a spell, that can conjure Judith for YOU in the present.

It is a vortex, an entry into her world, into that amazing mind and life of hers. It is a diagram, an x-ray, a blueprint, a map of a poetic, artistic, political, metaphysical life lived to the fullest. PENNY ARCADE ISOLE DE ISCHIA, award-winning stage performer JUDITH MALINA BEGAN WRITING FULL MOON STAGES in 1964. As a young actor in the company from 1971 on, I always knew about this cyclical poem and sometimes was privy to it. In 2014, I was asked to stage something at Anitas Way, a pedestrian walk through between West 42nd and 43rd streets, by the producer, Chashama. I decided to stage a one time reading of the entire FULL MOON STAGES with Judith and fourteen Living Theatre actors.

It took over two hours. It was magnificent. A happening in the middle of New York. This book is a palimpsest of Living Theatre experience of over fifty years. THOMAS WALKER, Living Theatre company member since 1971; General Manager HAVING THIS COLLECTION IN HAND is to hold an intimate portrait of Judiths honesty, resilience, pain, and spirit wrapped around life with her Living Theatre. LOIS KAGAN MINGUS, Living Theatre company member since 1988; Artistic Associate; Board of Directors member EVERY MONTH DESCRIBES A CONCISE lunar aspect of the Beautiful Nonviolent Anarchist Revolution.

Judith has inscribed The Livings Akashic Record in a fifty-year love letter. JOANIE FRITZ ZOSIKE, Living Theatre company member JUDITH, MY MOTHER, SPOKE TO US ALL in language that resonates with Beauty, with Truth, and with Love. Along her wanderings she left signpostsin poetry, in drama, and in our memoriesthat point the way toward what she called the Beautiful Nonviolent Anarchist Revolution. GARRICK BECK, son of Judith and Julian FULL MOON STAGESPersonal Notes from 50 Years of The Living TheatreJUDITH MALINA THREE ROOMS PRESS NEW YORK CITY Full Moon Stages:Personal Notes from 50 Years of The Living Theatreby Judith Malina Copyright 2015 Judith Malina All photos Copyright The Archives of The Living Theatre except where noted. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without permission of the author or publisher, except for brief quotes for review purposes.

For permissions, please write to . ISBN: 978-1-941110-25-6 trade paper ISBN: 978-1-941110-26-3 e-book Library of Congress Control Number: 2015935228 COVER AND BOOK DESIGN: KG Design International www.katgeorges.com PUBLISHED BY: Tree Rooms Press, New York, NY www.threeroomspress.com DISTRIBUTED BY: PGW/Perseus www.pgw.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Thanks to Thomas S. Walker and Dennis Li for the many hours of typing and proofreading of The Full Moon Poem. Thanks also to Brad Burgess, Leah Bachar, Ilion Troya, Jay Dobkin, Lois Kagan Mingus, Cindy Rosenthal, Karen Malpede, George Bartenieff, and Garrick Beck. NOTE FROM THE EDITORS: This book is a result of the commitment of Judith Malina, co-founder of The Living Theatre, the most radical, uncompromising, and experimental group in American theatrical history, to writing an entry about what she was doing on every full moon for fifty years, from July 1964 through July 2014. Her original concept was to call this collection of notes Full Moon Poem. With the addition of photos throughout, we have chosen to title this version Full Moon Stages to better represent this edition of the work as a whole.

Judith Malina and the ethos of The Living Theatre have deeply affected the work of Three Rooms Press. We are honored to be able to present this book as a tribute to her immensely profound life.DEDICATION T he Living Theatre was most influential to me in my life as a young actor. As I laid the rugs on their stage for the nightly productions or cleaned the hallways of their Magic Box Theatre or stacked programs, I knew it was all worth it just to have the experience of seeing whatever they put on each night. As a young teenager I stood in the back watching, night after night, miracles on stage, unbeknownst that I was witnessing something that could only be described as a revolution. I cant think of any other inspiration of freedom that comes close to representing the message of The Living Theatre and its daring and monumental effects. The reason I say these words is to articulate that their vision should somehow be the force that needs to be encouraged because it does do what so few things in our world are capable of: It enlightens.

It inspires. It brings forth change and the natural evolution of the spirit. I hope that this dear and momentous artist continues to be the beacon of generations to come. She stands for love, peace, hope, rebellion, freedom, generosity, and maybe the most elusive and charismatic virtues of them all, grace. Love you, Judith, forever. AUGUST At the Full Moon in August Mark Duffy went mad in London, and Steve was hit by a truck while marching in the streets. SEPTEMBER At the Full Moon in September we gathered in a cellar in London and spoke for the first time of Frankenstein. OCTOBER At the Full Moon in October we were rehearsing The Mysteries in Paris. NOVEMBER At the Full Moon in November we played The Brig in Berlin for millions on television. DECEMBER At the Full Moon in December I was in jail in Passaic, New Jersey for contempt of court. Frankenstein; front: Steve Ben Israel1965JANUARY At the Full Moon in January I visited Julian in jail in Danbury, Connecticut. FEBRUARY At the Full Moon in February we played The Mysteries in the Carr circus in Amsterdam. MARCH At the Full Moon in March we played The Brig in Turin. APRIL At the Full Moon in April we played The Mysteries in Rome. MAY At the Full Moon in May we performed The Brig in Naples. JUNE At the Full Moon in June Garry was sick in Paris. JULY At the Full Moon in July we had a Chinese dinner with Elsa Morante in Berlin. AUGUST At the Full Moon in August we completed the structure for Frankenstein in Berlin. SEPTEMBER At the Full Moon in September we were rehearsing