LIVING THEATRE, THE

(195170), theatrical repertory company known for its innovative production of experimental drama, often on radical themes, and for its confrontations with tradition, authority, and audiences. It was formed in New York City by Julian Beck and Judith Malina. The group struggled during the 1950s, producing little-known, new, and experimental plays by Gertrude Stein, Luigi Pirandello, Alfred Jarry, T.S. Eliot, Jean Cocteau, August Strindberg, and others. Its first big success came with its 1959 production of The Connection, Jack Gelber's drama of drug addiction. In 1961 the company made a successful tour of Europe with The Connection and with plays by Bertolt Brecht and William Carlos Williams. On returning to New York City, the political views of the members of the troupenonviolent protest and anarchismcame to the fore in their work. In 1963 they produced Kenneth H. Brown's The Brig, a play that depicted military discipline as dehumanizing. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service demanded payment of a large sum in admissions taxes that the constantly impoverished group had collected and had used to pay production costs while vainly seeking tax exempt status. Beck and Malina were tried and convicted of tax law violation and jailed briefly, and The Living Theatre was closed. In 1964 the company took up voluntary exile in Europe. Now influenced by Oriental mysticism, gestalt therapy techniques, and an Artaudian desire to abolish the distinction between art and life, The Living Theatre moved toward deliberately shocking and confronting its audiences in such works as Paradise Now, in which the actors performed rituals, provoked arguments, and carried on until members of the audience left. In 1970 the troupe split into several groups and dispersed.