âWE WANT THE WORLD, AND WE WANT IT NOWâ
In 1968, after years of self-imposed exile in Europe, the Living Theatre triumphantly returned to America with their theatrical breakthrough âParadise Now.â
The sensational production, involving group nudity, marijuana smoking, advocacy of a non-violent anarchist revolution, continuous interaction with the audience and something just this side of a full-on public orgy, received attention from those far outside the normal theater-going public.
From The Living Theatre: Art, Exile, and Outrage by John Tytell (Grove Press, 1995):
Doors singer Jim Morrison and poet Michael McClure actively participated in performances of âParadise Nowâ at the [San Francisco Bay Areaâs] Nourse AuditoriumâŚ. McClure brought Morrison to visit at [Beat poet/City Light Books founder Lawrence] Ferlinghettiâs office. Julian [Beck, of the Living Theatre} was on and off the telephone to New York, frantically worried about the money to get the troupe back to Europe where engagements has been scheduled. Quietly, Morrison offered to assist with money.
Morrisonâwho had read Artaud and Ginsberg in collegeâsaw himself as a revolutionary figure. Agreeing that repression was the chief social evil in America and the cause of a general pathology, he was typical of the sectors of support The Living Theatre had received in America. [The Doorsâ] long improvisational song âWhen the Musicâs Overâ proclaims, as in âParadise Now,â âWe want the world, and we want it now.â Morrison had seen every performance in Los Angeles and followed the company up to San Francisco.
âOn the day after his visit with McClure, Jim Morrison gave Julian [Beck] $2,500 for the trip homeâŚâ
Two years in the making, beautifully assembled with love by Will Swofford, Arthur Magazineâs PARADISE NOW: A Collective Creation of the Living Theatre features a DVD of rare, never-before-distributed films and revolutionary multimedia documents from the production, plus two double-sided posters and a detailed 40-page booklet.
- Only 1000 were made and theyâre all gone. Iâm glad I still have my copy. -
