PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
THEATRE & TEACHING
FOUNDER / ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
ALCHEMICAL STUDIOS, NYC, 2005 – Present
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Appearance: A Suspense in Being, dir. by Carlo Altomare – Collective creation, first exploration of Jazz Acting, a para-theatrical piece about acting
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Subliminal Reports, dir. by Carlo Altomare & Orietta Crispino - 8 soliloquy performances devised by the actors
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Bodies of Evidence, dir. by Carlo Altomare & Orietta Crispino - 7 soliloquy performances devised by the actors
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Excavation, Carlo Altomare, open piano and soundscape & Naoki Iwakawa, live action painter
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Action Painting Performance series. 13 sessions over 2 years
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Classes in Objective Acting, Jazz Acting, Living Theatre techniques, Meyerhold's Biomechanics
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The Alchemical also curates experimental theatre, performance, music and visual art events. www.alchemicalstudios.com
TEACHER/RESEARCH
Europe / NYC / Philadelphia, 1983 – Present
Thesis development: paradoxical theatre, disappearance as a social and aesthetic problem, the theatre proper vs. performance art, creative public assembly. Research and practice towards a relevant contemporary experimental theatre.
DAMU, Prague / Czech Republic, 1992 – 1994
Guest professorship / workshops for public classes and undergraduate creative movement and master classes in Meyerhold’s Biomechanics
THE PISCATOR FOUNDATION, NYC, 1982 – 1986
Research and Editing Assistant to Dr. Maria Ley Piscator for her book Objective Acting: Contact Theory and Practice
FOUNDER / DIRECTOR / ACTOR / COMPOSER
THE ALCHEMICAL THEATRE, NYC / Seattle / Europe, 1982 – Present
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There Is No More Firmament, by Antonin Artaud, (World Premiere)
New York City: New York Theatre Ensemble, LaMama ETC, The Alchemical Theatre, Charas
European tour: Bitef Festival (Belgrade), Berlin, Cologne, Milan, Sarajevo, Stockholm, etc -
The Daily Activity of Slaves, based The Reproduction of Daily Life by Freddie Perlman
The Pyramid Club, 8 BC, New York Theatre Ensemble -
Romance by Nick Markovich
Recherché, The Pyramid Bar, New York Theatre Ensemble, The Rock Tunnel (Cologne) -
The Law – This Place, two one act plays by Nick Markovich
New York Theatre Ensemble , E 4th St. -
Pure War /The Madness of the Day, by Carlo Altomare, adapted from writings of Paul Virilio & Maurice Blanchot – New York City: The Alchemical Theatre Space, 539 East 13th St. Squat,
European Tour: Bitef Festival (Belgrade), Berlin, Cologne, Milan, Sarajevo, Stockholm, etc
ACTOR / COMPOSER / COLLECTIVE CREATION
THE LIVING THEATRE, Europe / NYC, 1973 – 2012
Antigone, The Legacy of Cain, 7 Meditations On Political Sado-Masochism, Six Public Acts, The Dismantling of the Money Tower, The Body of Giuseppe Pinelli, Prometheus At The Winter Gates, The Strike Support Oratorium, The Tablets, I And I,
Mysteries and Smaller Pieces, and Korach, The Biblical Anarchist
COMPOSITION
Selected works for Theatre & Film
JOB'S LAMENT A FILM BY MARTIN RECKHAUS & GARY BRACKETT
Loretta Auditorium, internationally distributed, 2023
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Music for film
FOUR EPISODE TV PROJECT WITH COMEDIAN, RENO
Bravo Network, NYC, 2001
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Composer and writer
LORETTA AUDITORIUM
The Alchemical Theatre, NYC, 1999
Music for prepared piano and clarinet
I AND I BY ELSA LASKER-SCHULER
The Living Theatre, NYC, 1989
Music for piano and percussion with songs and chorus
THE TABLETS BY ARMAND SCHWERNER
The Living Theatre, NYC, 1987
Music for piano, electric bass, synth, and percussion, with songs and antiphonal chorus
PURE WAR / THE MADNESS OF THE DAY BY CARLO ALTOMARE
The Alchemical Theatre, NYC / Poland, 1985
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Music for piano, trumpet, percussion, and tape
SIGNALS THROUGH THE FLAMES A FILM BY SHELDON ROCHLIN & MAXINE HARRIS
The Living Theatre, NYC, 1983
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Composer and music editor
THERE IS NO MORE FIRMAMENT BY ANTONIN ARTAUD
The Living Theatre, NYC, 1982
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Music for small theatre ensemble: prepared piano, violin, clarinet, percussion, tape, and chorus
THE DAILY ACTIVITY OF SLAVES BASED ON THE REPRODUCTION OF DAILY LIFE BY FREDDIE PERLMAN
The Alchemical Theatre, NYC, 1982
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Music for tape, percussion, and chorus
THE LAW / THIS PLACE TWO ONE-ACT PLAYS BY NICK MARKOVICH
The Alchemical Theatre, NYC, 1982
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Music for prepared piano, clarinet, and violin
PROMETHEUS
The Living Theatre, Rome, 1978
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Music for piano, prepared piano, percussion, and two 4 track tapes
THE BODY OF GIUSEPPE PINELLI
The Living Theatre, Torino Italy, 1976
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Percussion piece for single drum w/ recitation and chorus
THE DISMANTLING OF THE MONEY TOWER
The Living Theatre, Biennale di Venezia, 1975
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Industrial and melodic tape score w/ live operatic Sprechstimmer (5 hr continuous score). Found objects, analog synth., prepared piano, tape manipulation and splicing, voices
YEVTUSHENKO AND FRIENDS
Doubleday Inc, The Felt Forum - NYC, 1972
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Music for chorus and rock ensemble for the Russian poet Yevtushenko’s premier reading in America: with Ginsberg, Wilbur, Kunitz, et al.
PUBLICATION
1994 Divadlo Noviny, (New Theatre), monthly, Prague
1993 Amaterska Scenna, (Amateur Stage), monthly, Prague
1993 Korrespondenzen, Theatre Education Quarterly, Berlin
1984 Life and Death magazine, NYC
1984 Semiotext(e), quarterly, (The USA Issue), NYC
1983 Upstart, quarterly, Columbia University Press, NYC
EDUCATION
1973 – 2014 Julian Beck and Judith Malina - The Living Theatre (mentors and teachers)
1973 Directors Apprentice Program - McCarter Theatre, Princeton University
1969 – 1973 BFA Program - Rider University, Lawrenceville, NJ
Languages: Native English, Fluent Italian, some German and French
SELECTED LECTURES & WORKSHOPS
Contact for booking
New York University, Experimental Theatre Wing - Rosemary Quinn, Director
Lecture/Demonstration: Meyerhold's Biomechanics and The Living Theatre's work
Columbia University, Graduate Studies, French Philology - Sylvere Lotringer, Prof.
Lecture: Antonin Artaud and The Alchemical Theatre production of There Is No More Firmament
Universite Paris 8, Undergraduate Theatre Department - Fannette Vander, Prof.
Acting Technique Workshop/Meyerhold and Artaud/Collective Creation Workshop
Universite Paris 8, Doctoral Candidates/Arts et Philosophie - Dr. Jean-Marie Pradier,
Lecture: The Changing Role of the Theatre in a Spectacular Society/Radical Public Assembly
Workshop Tour: Universities and Community Centers throughout West Germany (27 weeks)
Aachen, Berlin, Bremmen, Cologne, Duisburg, Hannover, Marburg, Munich, Munster, Stuttgart, etc.
Direct Action Workshop: Collective creation and performance of an original piece with students.
A joint project of the Universities of Cologne and Augsburg, and The BundesStudentenKultursarbeit
University of Krakow, Philosophy of Aesthetics Dept.
Lecture: The Alchemical Theatre's There Is No More Firmament and Pure War/The Madness Of The Day
Free University of Berlin
Lecture/Demonstration: Meyerhold's Biomechanics
The Max Rheinhardt Schule, Berlin; Ruth Preller, Prof..
Lecture/Workshop: Meyerhold's Biomechanics, Method vs. Epic Acting
Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, WA
Lecture: The History and Continuity of 20th Century Experimental Theatre
Collective Creation Workshop with performance of original piece: The Banquet
University of Belgrad, Yugoslavia
Lecture: Biomechanics, Collective Creation, and Radical Public Assembly
The New School for Social Research, New York City
Lecture/Demonstration: Erwin Piscator's Contact Theory and Practice (with Dr. Maria Ley Piscator)
Cologne University, Theatre Department - Georg Franke, Director
Course on Theatre Movement: Meyerhold's Biomechanics, Artaud, Epic Theatre, Collective Creation
Evergreen College, WA
Lecture: Radical Public Assembly, Collective Creation. Workshop: Artaudian Acting Techniques
Commune Baires Theatre Collective, Milan
Workshop: Meyerhold's Biomechanics, Collective Creation
Bergman Film School, Stockholm
Lecture/Demonstration: Meyerhold's Biomechanics
Theatre Labyrinth, Prague, Czech Republic
Lecture: The History and Continuity of 20th Century Experimental Theatre /Creative Public Assembly
The Brecht Forum, NYC
The Political Theatre and Radical Public Assembly; lecture and discussion group (12 weeks)
Alchemical Studios / Theaterlab, NYC
Reading and discussion group on Antonin Artaud
Objective Acting, Jazz Acting, Living Theatre Techniques, Meyerhold's Biomechanics
HIS OWN WORDS
I have always loved the work of producing and organizing a place where artists can develop and present their projects. It’s a privilege and a creative endeavor in its vision and attention to detail. Every day I aspire toward it being a work of art in itself. I see The Alchemical Theatre Laboratory as such a place.
When I left The Living Theatre in 1979, it seemed clear to me that the theatre was primarily about the meeting of artist and public, a creative public assembly. The occurrences on stage serve as a catalyst to ignite an often surprising experience of how we see ourselves and one another, how we might better understand community, or achieve a glimpse of inspired communion. This is the intended outcome of the alchemical opus.
– Carlo Altomare