Julian Beck, Judith Malina - The Living Theatre May 17, 1975

[67psych2]

WOW!! I was BORN on the day this was filmed-May 17 1975 My Parents had taken LSD before i was born ,maybe 1971-1974,so they told me,it never did them any harm as they are well adjusted 'NORMAL' people! LOL! Although i have been obsessed with the late 1960's and psychedelic music since i was 16!! Everything about it,music,fashion ect!! Just a rant,but there you go!

[HH9508]

Beck was a drug using sexual deviant. What you are watching here is not art but liberal nonsense. Hippies who roll around in the mud and telepathically "talk" with fern plants and who think communism is groovy.

[CBHighberger]

@HH9508 Please SPARE ME! Why would I have any interest in your thoughts or opinions about anything? Why don't you go back to reading your collected works of Ann Coulter while you listen to Rush Limbaugh instead of ranting about artists and performers and literature you have no appreciation of? Just because you dislike it and the people who create it and enjoy it makes no difference at all. Julian Beck and Judith Malina and the Living Theattre will live on long after you are gone and forgotten

[paulozerati]

Congratulations man, Julian Beck as Reverend Henry Kane of Poltergeist II, is such a classic acting of him, Im happy to see this right now, Im 30 years old, and when I was 5, I saw Poltergeist II, and I still remember the evil Kane,and no doubt, he is a fucking awesome actor,he is the soul of Poltergeist.

[ubu406]

Che magia e che....nostalgia di quei giorni!!

[TheFabulousmonroe1]

Hes scary still did u know that he was bisexual he was worried n his partner in the side...... anyways he still scare me

[nikol7373]

THE LSD EFFECTS...;-)

[cwbellor]

Wow! He was creepy as hell even then.

[tulifuli]

Why was this filmed in black and white with Portapack when 8mm and 16mm film cameras were getting full color , great fidelity results for years?

[CBHighberger]

@tulifuli The Sony Portapak was the first truly portable high quality video/sound recording system that could be operated by one person. It cost thousands of dollars less than a comparable 16mm sound film camera system that would have required at least a crew of two people. The cost of film, even Super 8mm film with magnetic stripe for sync sound at that time was daunting. With my Portapak I was able to make good quality video recordings with sound of many performances.

[EmperorDrax]

This is so interesting because there's very little that's widely accessible about him prior to the 1980's, so it's hard to find out more about his life and work.

[medea667]

Rest in peace, you enigmatic, charismatic, fascinating devil.

[clownworkshop]

within about one week of this video, i went from Pittsburgh to Ann Arbor where I met Julian Beck at the Experimental Theater Festival. Regards, Ira Seidenstein

[kennywoodjoe]

Hippies lol.  On a personal note, this was filmed about 30 minutes from my house.

[newfoundlandjb35]

what a beauitful art acting

[Shamborn]

was this in NYC? Where exactly?

[CBHighberger]

No, this was in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, actually on the Northside, in an empty lot near the abandoned house that the troupe lived in for a couple of months. That summer I was renting an apartment nearby and met them - they were rehearsing outdoors. I was fascinated and got their permission to record the first public performance which coincided with the first Earth Day.

[Eragarev]

Seriously? This is in Pitt? Mind telling me an address?

[CBHighberger]

@Eragarev The performance began with a procession on Beech Avenue that is the only street name I remember because I lived there that summer

[Atheistsmass]

New Beggining probably means how a dirtfield

is a symbol of endless possibility which is

actually cliche to people who graduate in the

usa with a art degree.The graduation hat is

brown for this reason.

[rickbeezer34]

since has to be some of the weirdest shit i have ever seen in my life lol..

[ACriminalMind]

God is in his holy temple

[prrrrecious]

i still don't quite understand the concept of the Living Theater.

[CBHighberger]

It was an alternative theatre grounded in political commentary. This from their website about when I knew and filmed them: "

In the 1970's, The Living Theatre began to create The Legacy of Cain, a cycle of plays for non-traditional venues. From the prisons of Brazil to the gates of the Pittsburgh steel mills, and from the slums of Palermo to the schools of New York City, the company offered these plays... free of charge to the broadest of all possible audiences."

[Bens39]

God bless them for their sincere efforts. Julian was a pioneer, and in many ways a legend in his own life time. From all the reading Ive done of his life - he was a man without guile. He was certainly one whom you could say was "living in the moment".

[jasonhammond]

How often, in this age, do we experience "Theater" that will hand you a fist-full of soil while chanting "new beginnings"? Do you see shovel as metaphor...

The deal is.....prying open the spaces and boundaries we each maintain. Thus community may form.

[CBHighberger]

LOL here Beck is referring to the "legacy of Cain" as in the story of brothers Cain and Abel (the first and second sons of Adam and Eve in the religions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam! But how incredible I never thought of Kane from Poltergeist... it fits too! Beck was an amazing brilliant charismatic presence in life and on recorded media.

[jlamo1]

Having been a child who saw The Exorcist with ease, and many other things I should not have. Julian Beck specifically in Poltergeist II, scared the piss out of me.

[yackfoutoo]

Hey, I am glad I am not alone of beeing totally scarred of Henry Kane...he looks like a skeleton with skin and got this psycotic sentences...watched a lot of horror movies, but not one of them really scarred me, but Kane...boah...

[MNC122703]

I admit there is something about beck that sends a chill down you spine , watching this film feels like politergeits all over again , besides him there was one other thing that scared me as a kid the movie pet sematary when you say Rachels sister zelda in her bed I still to this day have trouble watching that

[wwea1975]

Julian Beck was a master actor and a gentlemen I would have loved to shake hands with. Kane scared the shit out of me too, but that was Julian at work being one of the greatest actors of this time. R.I.P Mr. Beck!!

[lindahamiltonNo1fan]

How can anyone look like that? It's sick! He might have been a good actor in The Poltergeist but he doesn't look human at all. He would have done great as one of the monsterous men in "Wrong Turn" or something.

[xhemexx]

This guy utterly scared the shit out of me in his role in poltergiest 2.  That was probably the scariest movie I've seen.

[filmerado]

Amazing! I miss Julian Beck.

[tygersflowerz]

What a rare treat. He's an acting legend. He was utterly chilling in Poltergeist II. :-) Thanks for sharing.

[phoebus1966]

Stop following - Start leading. Fight opposition control and maladaptive response. With all respect but maladaptive response will not solve the addressed issues ergo our world today unchanged compared to the world in say 1965. Got it?

[astartarte]

este tipo de arte muy cercano a las propuestas de arte accional, arte conceptual y arte vivo deben ser revisadas y revaloradas para que en todos los contextos puedan ser apreciadas en su total magnitud. Saludos desde Mérida-Venezuela, desde donde intentamos acercarnos y experimentar el arte ARTE

[CBHighberger]

¡Da las gracias para su mensaje! Soy tan feliz que usted disfrutó de esto. - Craig B. Highberger

[pietkuiters]

Type: JAZZ IS MY RELIGION

Amsterdam 1964. Piet was in the living theatre in the sixties/seventies.

Kind regards Django Novo.

[framecut]

It's almost as if Beck's entire life was leading up to his seminal role as Reverend Cain in Poltergeist II.

The role (playing a preacher) is so opposite, and yet so distinctly similar to Beck's real life as some new-age shaman.

Great casting and an actor who's life was distinguished too damned early.

Miss you Beck.

[MNC122703]

I truely believe there is a demon in him , his presence alone chills me to the bone and I dont scare easy

[dogslam2]

Remember The Open Theatre? I'd love to see one of their brilliant pieces posted!

[daveTmkio]

With out him the world would have not seen that it would have ended up dead through it's own stupidity. Thank you Julian Beck!

[Beatman197]

I really enjoyed that. It was kind of disturbing but I think he knew what he wanted to portray for the audience. Thanks v much for posting this.

[CBHighberger]

Julian was electrifying - this culmination of the play chanting "New Beginning" really gave me hope for a future totally unlike what we are dealing with now. We need artists like this now more than ever...

[Beatman197]

I have to agree. I fear however that this is seen as "Militant" which gives less of a national voice. Hence this type of art?

[CBHighberger]

I agree - I have just been re-reading Julian's 'The Life of the Theatre: the relation of the artist to the struggle of the people' (1972) where you understand that Julian, Judith and the collective were working to liberate the human spirit. Julian was arrested many times for protesting against against war and racism and injustice - as was the theatre company itself.

[wayofthecass]

.....love to see footage of that Living Theatre performance they did when they walked around an auditorium asking people for money for a fix.

I wonder if its just ironic or if it was meant that Beck's character was called Cain in Poltergeist II? One thing is for sure. That man left an indelible impression on my life at an early age and I'll never forget him. May God rest his soul

[CBHighberger]

Thank you for your comments. Filming this performance and getting to know Julian Beck, Judith Malina and the collective was an incredible experience. I just released this on DVD (see my profile for the website).

[wayofthecass]

You should send this to that guy who has the site dedicated to his 'FEAR' of Julian Beck. Like many other people Beck's performance of Cain in Poltergeist II really unsettled him and he found the only way to deal with it was to get to know who Beck really was.

What better way that to see a video of him wearing a vest mincing around a public park shouting 'New Beginning' and handing people mud. Great video. I'd.........

[derfeuerbach]

Julian Beck was an extraordinary artist. So dont be afraid of him. Always keep in mind that he never would have hurt anybody - let alone little Carol Anne. I rather appreciated to see him as "Rev. Cain", since he performed the "legacy of Cain" with his Living Theatre during the sixties. A nice reference to his work.

[derfeuerbach]

An outrageous document. Thank you very much. There has to be more.

[CBHighberger]

Thank YOU! I am releasing the complete recording on DVD. It is really incredible. Experiencing this performance and getting to know Julian, Judith and the collective was unforgettable!

[ChungosInc]

And if you are doing this on DVD how can i Buy it? I live far away of everywere (CHILE)

[CBHighberger]

To purchase, just go to my online store highbergermedia (dot) com

[Bens39]

This video is inspiring. A friend and I watch it at least each week, and would love to see the rest.

[Bens39]

I love Julian Beck. Avant garde.

[sandinista5]

Cool!