Item #39038 PARADISE NOW - THIS CHART IS THE MAP.

53.

PARADISE NOW - THIS CHART IS THE MAP.

Original 'Paradise Now' poster. Printed offset in black ink on white paper stock. 43x55.5cm. No date (c. 1968).

The chart was conceived by Julian Beck and Judith Malina in order to illustrate the structure of the production and as a means of conveying to the audience a path to Paradise, the political and spiritual journey required for the total reinvention of life free from oppression and exploitation.

Combining elements of anarchist, Reichian, Laingian, Cabalist and Tantric philosophies, and illustrated with diagrams of the human body representing the unification of the physical and the spiritual, it was designed to be read horizontally from left to right, then vertically, with the horizontal 'rung' consisting of three states - a Rite, a Vision, and an Action - each representing the sequence of events on stage.

Copies were handed out to the audience, though judging by its scarcity in the rare book market, few appear to have survived. This example, presumably folded by an audience member, has five vertical folds and one central horizontal fold, with some associated creasing, but is otherwise in excellent condition, with no edge tears or loss.

A key document from The Living Theatre's defining work.

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