The Piscator Notebook

'Theater legend Malina has written one of the most interesting studies of the avant-garde theatrical movement published in the last several years.' – CHOICE
Judith Malina and The Living Theatre have been icons of political theatre for over six decades. What few realise is that she originally studied under one of the giants of twentieth century culture, Erwin Piscator, in his Dramatic Workshop at The New School in New York. Piscator founded the Workshop after emigrating to New York, having collaborated with Brecht to create "epic theatre" in Germany.
The Piscator Notebook documents Malina’s intensive and idiosyncratic training at Piscator’s school. Part diary, part theatrical treatise, this unique and inspiring volume combines:


complete transcriptions of Malina’s diaries from her time as a student at the Dramatic Workshop, as well as reproductions of various of Piscator’s syllabi and teaching materials;


notes on Malina’s teachers, fellow students – including Marlon Brando and Tennessee Williams – and New School productions;


studies of Piscator’s process and influence, along with a new essay on the relationship between his teaching, Malina’s work with the Living Theatre and "The Ongoing Epic";


an introduction by performance pioneer, Richard Schechner.

The Piscator Notebook is a compelling record of the genealogy of political theatre practice in the early 20th Century, from Europe to the US. But it is also a stunningly personal reflection on the pleasures and challenges of learning about theatre, charged with essential insights for the student and teacher, actor and director.
'Piscator is the greatest theatre man of our time.' – Bertolt Brecht

Foreword: by Richard Schechner
Part 1: Weimar to The Dramatic Workshop
Personal History
Erwin Piscator: Germany to New York City
The Founding of The Dramatic Workshop, 1940
The Studio Theatre
The Teachers of Piscator’s School
Margrit Wyler
Reiken Ben-Ari
Chouteau Dyer
Leo Kerz
Paul Zucker
Gloria Montemuro
Alexander Ince
Hans Sondheimer
Henry Wendriner
The Students
George Bartenieff
Anna Berger
Sylvia Miles
Marlon Brando
Bea Arthur
Howard Friedman
Piscator’s Students
My Personal Struggle to Enter The Dramatic Workshop
Valeska Gert
Lunar Bowels: an Audition Piece

Part 2: The Notebook

Part 3: The Ongoing Epic

End of the Notebook and First Workshop Plays
Julian Beck
By Any Other Name and Maurice Schwartz’s Yiddish Art Theatre
Piscator’s Basic Question: The Role of the Audience
Becoming a Director: A Confession
The Inspiration of Joseph Urban’s Architecture
Eleanor Fitzgerald
The Classes
The March of Drama
Theatre Research
Theatre Research Critique
The Plays
The Sheepwell (Fuente Ovejuna)
Franklin Roosevelt’s Death
Lysistrata
The Spook Sonata
Hannele’s Way to Heaven
The Aristocrats
Agamemnon
The Circle of Chalk
The Flies
Tonight We Improvise – Pirandello: Breaking into the Audience
Kandinsky’s Great Insight
Piscator and the Audience
Objective Acting
Between Two Worlds
Piscator: Success and Failure
Piscator’s Return to Germany – and to Berlin
Eric Bentley
Piscator’s Influence
Piscator’s Influence: The Work of The Living Theatre

Afterword: Political Theatre, Theatrical Politics: Epic Theatre in the 21st Century