Memorial Page for Judith Malina

Judith Malina (born 4 June 1926 in Kiel; died 10 April 2015 in Englewood, New Jersey) was a German-American actress, director, writer and theatre leader. Together with Julian Beck she founded The Living Theatre in New York in 1947, an experimental theatre group that connected art, political commitment, pacifism, anarchism and audience participation.

From Kiel to New York

Malina was born in Kiel as the daughter of Rabbi Max Malina and his wife Rose. The family emigrated to the United States in 1929. In New York Judith Malina studied with Erwin Piscator at the Dramatic Workshop of the New School. Piscator's political theatre, Brechtian forms and the experience of emigration shaped her view of stage, society and responsibility.

The Living Theatre

In 1947 Malina founded The Living Theatre with Julian Beck. The group began in small rooms and became a steady place for experimental theatre. It performed texts by Gertrude Stein, Luigi Pirandello, Alfred Jarry and others, but increasingly worked on its own collective forms. Malina's theatre brought body, language, politics and audience into immediate situations.

Political theatre and conflicts

Productions such as The Connection, The Brig and later Paradise Now connected artistic experiments with criticism of war, prison, authority and social passivity. The group came into conflict with authorities, including over tax matters and performances that crossed existing theatre rules. Malina placed her work within nonviolent political action.

Exile, return and screen roles

After the closure of the New York theatre, The Living Theatre worked for periods in Europe and in unusual places: streets, factories, prisons and public squares became performance sites. Malina also appeared in films and television productions, including Dog Day Afternoon, Awakenings, The Addams Family and The Sopranos. These roles made her visible beyond the theatre world.

After Julian Beck

Julian Beck died in 1985. Malina then continued The Living Theatre with Hanon Reznikov, whom she married in 1988. After Reznikov's death in 2008 she remained connected with the group. Her diaries and recollections document a life in which theatre work, relationships, political decisions, lack of money, travel and rehearsals were closely intertwined.

Farewell

Judith Malina died on 10 April 2015 at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood. She was 88 years old. Her career connected a history of flight, New York off-theatre, political experiment and a stage that actively involved viewers.