Although Chaikin, of the radical Open Theater, is spiritual kin to
the Living Theater's Becks he has written a vastly different sort
of book from Judith Malina's recent journal (The Enormous Despair,
p. 379). Whereas hers was responsive to the moment (and
consequently a vital record of a period and a group), his exists at
a tranquil remove from the strife of theater, politics and his own
career. These are the focuses nonetheless of reflections distilled
from what has evidently been a long and uncompromising inquiry into
the business of acting, the relationship of theater to the rest of
our affairs, and ultimately the conditions of living in
post-industrial mass society. While he makes his points, plants his
suggestions, with the simple, functional clarity (and sometimes the
gnomic compression) of a great teacher, he does not seem to be wing
for that role. If someone else has said it well, he quotes without
elaboration, and he does not assert his own presence in discussions
of other actors and theorists. What seems to matter is the idea,
which has multiple origins and statements (Brecht, Laing, Goodman,
etc.) but accrues something positive here. This may well become a
cult book, and not undeservingly. (Kirkus Reviews)
Chaikin, who directed the celebrated Open Theater in the '60s,
kindled an emphasis on communal playmaking whose impact is still
evident today. This conversational review of his efforts details
his methods and reveals the struggles involved in the creation of
some of the most exciting theatre of our time.
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