- Centered around a 2008 revival of The Brig, the inflammatory 1963 play that exposed the harsh realities inside a US Marine prison, this documentary by Karin Kaper and Dirk Szuszies puts former Marine Kenneth H. Brown's drama into historical perspective - and makes a case for its ongoing relevance - through powerful scenes from the recent production in Berlin as well as illuminating interviews with directors of the play past and present, revival cast members, and the playwright himself. When Julian Beck and Judith Malina, the founders of New York's radical Living Theater, brought The Brig to their stage in the early 1960s, many theater critics - not to mention the US Department of Defense - found it not just obnoxious but subversive. Rooted in the surrealist model of Theater of Cruelty, Brown's claustrophobic vision of young, caged Marines being transformed into automatons - performing a kind of foot-stamping ballet at double-time as they're verbally abused and punched in the gut by their guards - outraged many and stirred others to antiwar action. More than four decades later, with Americans again on the battlefield, the play still strikes raw nerves. One of the young cast members, explaining how violently it changes shape with each performance, admits, "I'm under psychic stress for two hours."—Starz Denver Film Festival
- Thrilling drama about the inhuman conditions in a US Marine Corps prison, located in Japan near Okinawa in 1957.'The Brig' is not an everyday theatre piece. It is an act of rebellion, of passionate civil disobedience. The founders of the Living Theatre, Judith Malina and Julian Beck, were among the initiators of New York's first General Strike for Peace in May 1963. At the same time,they did take up ex-marine Kenneth Brown's manuscript and brought it to the stage. The author describes his own experiences of daily life in a military prison,from reveille to taps. With their moving attack against a sacred institution like the Marines,the Living Theatre became public enemies for American Officialdom. In 2007, Judith Malina decided to revisit 'The Brig' to protest against any form of violent governance.The new production strucked a nerve in the present day and won at the New York Obie Awards. In Italy it won the prestigious prize of best foreign production in 2008 given by the association of italian theatre critics. The film captures the strength of the piece which has lost none of its power.As a former member of the Living Theatre, film director Dirk Szuszies is able to show the significance of the production. The original film music by Patrick Grant expands the sensory impact in an unique and suggestive way.
- ANOTHER GLORIOUS DAY
Documentary by Karin Kaper & Dirk Szuszies, 95 min.
ORIGINAL ENGLISH VERSION
World Premiere November 2009
© Karin Kaper Film Berlin, 2009
It was an historic moment. Summer 2007, four decades after The Living Theatre had been driven out of New York, they have gloriously returned with a new version of The Brig by Kenneth H. Brown in their theatre on Clinton Street in the Lower East Side. This thrilling drama, about the inhuman conditions in a US Marine Corps prison based in Okinawa in 1957, has lost none of its power and remains topically charged today. The Brig is not an everyday theatre piece. It is an act of rebellion, of passionate civil disobedience. The founders of The Living Theatre, Judith Malina and Julian Beck, were among the initiators New Yorks first General Strike for Peace in May 1963. It follows that they were the ones to take up ex-marine Kenneth Browns manuscript and bring it to the stage. The author describes his own experiences of daily life in a military prison, from reveille to taps. The viewer becomes a part of a claustrophobic world where there is no escape from the intrinsic violence. The stamping of marching boots creates an unreal rhythm and the prisoners perform a surreal ballet of terror. Guards and inmates develop into strange accomplices in a way that becomes representative of other aspects of society. The Living Theatre, with their moving attack against a sacred institution like the Marines, became public enemies for American Officaldom. In Europe they found a second home especially in the Berlin Akademie der Künste in the 1960s. In 2007, the Living Theatre decided to revisit The Brig to protest against any form of violent governance, a sad fact that has not changed in the intervening decades. The new production struck a nerve in the present day and won at the New York Obie Awards for group and direction. The European premiere on 30. April 2008, was the opportunity for film directors Karin Kaper and Dirk Szuszies to capture the present strength of the piece and to document its historical meaning. As a former member of the Living Theatre, Dirk Szuszies is able to show the inner life of the group. These views are built into the filmed representation of the piece at interval in order to give the viewer other modes of observation. The original music and sound designs from Patrick Grant expand the sensory impact of the film in a way that goes far beyond simple documentary. Production and distribution: Karin Kaper Film Germany, www.karinkaper.com
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