Along with Peter Brook and Jerzy Grotowski, Joseph Chaikin is one of the main forces in the last two decades showing us who the actor is. For several dozen years plus Joe's devotion to excellence has challenged us. Theatre artists around the world recognize his tremendous contribution to the growth of the idea of a purposeful theatre. His vision of theatre is not restricted to linear plot and psychological naturalism. He has tuagh1 us the importance of association and counterpoint. He has shown us that the visual image is at least as important as the spoken word. Joe's idea of theatre is a'blend of the pers onal, poli tical and metaphysical. Sam Shepard says that Joe is the main force in American Theatre. The Stanislavski viewpoint about acting · encourages the actor to merge his personality with the character. Through Joe's work we can now know that who the person is on. stage is also part of the theatre process, and that person must not be lost. Joe Chaikin began his career in the early 60's by heading to New York to be discovered so he could make movies and become famous and rich. Not long after he was in the B.i&Jppel, however, he began work with The Living Theatre, and thos~:amoltions did not prevail. In 1963, he started the Open Theatre, a loosely knit group of artists who experiment• with voic.e, mov~emen t, and the relationships between performers and spectators. Then ·in 1973 . the Open Theatre separated, and Joe r..eturnoclcnd·i~<J.,.t-< t-e- actir::f and directing, and star ted The Winter Project. Every year, this group of artists got together for a few months to develop new projects. A few years ago, Joe suffered a stroke during open heart surgery which l~ft him with impaired communicative skill's. He has since recovered and ha·s performed and taught in many places. Most recently he performed in Poland at a miftor intern~tional theatr~ festival, and in London where he performed the same pieces he wili perform in Atlanta: . "The War ~n Heaven" which he co-authored with his collaborator Sam Shepard, and selected monologues . f.rom Ted Hughes' adaptation of Seneca's Oedipus. Today Joe will read from his acceptance speech when he received the Edwin Booth Award from NYU this past May. This award is given occasionally outstanding American theatre artists by the faculty and PhD students at NY U arid it is indeed a disctinction that Joe is a recipient. I recently saw . the video tape of the event which comprised this award ceremony during · which many well known artists and writers spoke about Joe's contribution to American Theatre. Even as a poorly done, one camera document, this tape is truly remarkable in summarizing one who is so clearly acknowledged as our country's greatest theatre artist. I asked Joe to read it . today to this group as a means of making a brief contact with the theatre community in Atlant~. There is no plan for an open ended discussion or questions and answers following Joe's presentation, but I hope his .comments will encourage us all to continue to talk more about our work. Joe ·. performs at 7 Stages, acornpanied by Steve Kent, this Friday thr:ough Sunday at 8:00. Tickets are $10.50. Seats a,re still available. - Transcrip t o f Joseph Ch a i kin 's speech at the p res enta tion of THA~K YOU. the Edwin Booth A\vard from CUNY May 4, 1987 : CA~NOT SPSAK WELL, BUT THANK YOU, FROM M! HEART, ?OR COMING, ~ND FOR MAKING TOD~Y A CELEBRATION. THIS WEEK IT'S THREE YEARS SINCE MY STROKE. THREE YEARS SINCE MY APHASIA, ~~REE YEARS 3I~CE I RS~EWED ~Y . GAREER I~ ~HEA7ER. ~IGHT AF':'ER ~y STROKE I COULD SAY ONLY ONE REAL ~ORD. :mL Y "YES .n · ·v~ ::: ,, . -~ . ..~HE~l I. '~A:l!ED TO SAY "I LOVE '[-JU.' OR "T iiA':'E YOU,'' I COULD ONLY SAY ''YES." 1 COULD NOT UNDERSTAND OTHER PEOPLE S~EA K I~G. r ~~L~ A~GU~SH~ TERROR, ..-\ND ~OURNING~ . I THOUGHT I WAS BLlND A~D DEAF, REALLY. I WAS ' TR£~1BLING. I WAS LIKE CASPAR HAUSER COMING INTO THE WORLD. IT WAS APHASIA. AT FIRST IT WAS TERRIBLE PAIN. EVERYTHING WAS BATTLING IN MY BODY AND MIND. I,WAS ~TAGGERING, LITERALLY. I · COULDN .. 'll. WALK . BEFORE ;.tY STROKE. : WAS ?RE;F'A R I~~G :'0 p:._;.. :· :::::: r; LE.\R AT 7HE ?UBLIC THEATER. ~OW I WAS MYSELF -- ON THE HEATH . .i.::D '•iHE:l I HAD '!'HE 2:Ni::RGY, I CJRSED. - "..i AS 'IERY T::!:::\ED · 7HZ ?!:::.s: >10NTHS -- -. ~ ' "' TP _.........,"" ..., - I • • ..J L-...., •\.- ... .. :. ~AS ?ASSION ATELY .I:ITERES:'I:~G TO :·1E .'-.LSO . -··-·:a.--·"'.., '!.!::. ' ,_ ":"., ' .~L.3\J . - ?EEL PASSIONA!~LY TOWARD THE:ATE~. T ~AS BORN IN THEATER. THEATZ~ :'0 !! E, I7' S LI?E. •, JHEN I HAD ~~ · EARLY PHYSICAL CRISIS, . T . W.AS IN A CARDIAC · H01·1E FOR CHILDREN. I I .BEGAN TO L'EAD OTHE.R CHILDREN IN PLAYING THEATER. ·.. IT'S FUNNY -- THE THEATER, WHICH IS CHANGI~G ALL THE TI:1E, · BECAME MY HOME. THEATER REACHES TO CHILD, BECAUS E IT'S IMAGINATION. "· -..l 7~IS ~AS7 PHYSICAL C~ISIS TOO, ~y RECOVERY 3EGA~ ~HE~ I BEGAN TO 57UDY ~~ ~I~ES. EVERYTHI~G ~AS LIKE THE ?:RS7 T!~E TO ME. THE THEATER I7'S ~OW, ~OW AGAI~. AND ~GAI~ ~OW -- AL~AYS THE PRESENT .. : ~AS ~AK!~G UP I~ THE DARK. t.....i.. .\..:. :':IE ?OOL, ;us: .30R~:, AHA:ED A;:D SOMET:>tES ~ R 4GE . • ,.,.,, , r T ;\ ~ . "\~~. ~VEN SEEI~G AND FEEL:~G ~E~Z DI??ERENT. : ;As ~ORE SENSITIVE, EVERY ~OME~~ . ~AV~~G . ~ORE ~EA~I~G. l\EL2ARNI:1G THE RHYTH:-!S OF SPS.U~::IG, I BECA.;:IE . CONSCIOUS; REALLY CONSCIOUS, OF ~UMAN THEA:ER OF ·EVERY DAY . I WAS SUDDENLY AWARE 0 F ~1 0 RE ~1 EAN I :f G I il "T 0 NE. " · ~ORE ~EANING IN VOICES, MORE MEANING ON FACES, MORE MEANING IN BODY ~OVEMENT. SO :1UCH FEELING BETWEEN WORDS -- IT's .ENDLESS. ENOUGH SPACE FOR ENDLESS PL-\NETS .\ND STARS. ~HE~ ?:~ALLY I COULD UNDERSTAND A WORD, IT WAS A BIG DEAL: IT'S ~OT ABSTRACT TO ME ANYMORE: WORDS. IT'S NOT ABSTRACT AT ALL. T~E ~HYTHMS OF PEOPLE SPEAKING ::'3 ~OT ABSTRACT. IT'S LIVI~G. ?OR ~E EACH WORD, IT'S HIT OR XISS. ::AC:-i SZ:ITEi{CE, IT'S JOURNEY. I AM ALWAYS ACTOR, DIREC7ING THEATER, AND TEACHING. AL'~AYS. MY WORK NOW, IT'S CONTINUING FROM BEFORE IT'S DEEPENING FRDM BEFORE i7'S ~y LIFE IN THEATER. TODAY, ~10NDAY, MAY 4TH, I WAS TEACHING N·.Y.U. I CAN ONLY TO READ ON STAGE NOW, RUT I WILL PERFORM NEXT MONTH IN POLAND A PLAY I WROTE WITH SAM SHEPHERD: WAR IN HEAVEN -- NEXT WINTER I WILL PERFORM A PLAY IN LOS ANGELES I AM WRITING WITH JEAN-CLAUDE VAN !TALLIE -- ---.......--A DAY IN THE LIFE. · AND I'M NOW DIRECTING PLAYS BY IONESCO IN NEW YORK CITY. · . ~ :;: :;:;;JOY KE.illi.:--IG HORE ~OW. POE'l'R':', AND THE MIRACLE OF ~HE . 3UMA~ VOICE. COLORS AND MUSIC ARE MORE BLESSINGS. AND I'M SURPRISED TO LIVE AGAI~. AND GLAD. LA VITA NUOVA. DANTE CAL:~ IT. :~'S !~CREDI3LZ. THIS ~EW LIFE. ::'S BIGGER :~A~ 3EFORE, ?OR ME THEATER ~OW, IT'S . ~ORLD. I.:! :lOT INTERESTED :N II sWEET. II :lOW, I'M I~C'ERESTED ·JNLY I:f CHA.~IGE.. ~E ARE ~~ANGI~G . QUICKLY. ~E ARE NOT PERMANEN7. WE CAN ·EVEN CHANGE AUDIZHCES --A LI~::.z, M.A':'3E. 3 ECAUSE THEATER, .. I7' S I:·!AGIN AT ION. IT'S CONTAGIO~S, Lii~ LAUGHTER AND ~HE · FLU. THEA 7ER, . I7' S FEELING, WORDS, RHYTH~lS, AND C:1ANG E. EXPERIMENTING IN THEATER~ IT'S FAILURE AND DISCOVERY. IT'S TRYING AGAIN. THEATER, IT'S CRYING, AND FUNNY, AND MUSIC -- ALL TOGETHER. THJEATER, IT'S POWER -- FOR CHANGE. I HATE "FASCIST." IT'S STATIC. WE MUST CHANGE. IT'S ~y FAMILY, THEATER. I COULD ~OT GET BETTER ;~o~:. WHEN ! WAS BEGI~~I~G ~EC~VERY WORK, ~ANY ?SOP:z ~EL?~D ME. ',, ~ . •.~ JH.::.. • : "M G2..cTEFUL TO 3E :iE:\E. 1 ·- - ~ ~ ..- .. ... ·. .· ~ - ~ · ~: . .;:~ . - :: ..·.- ;-.. ;-·:: ·:·· _<_·: ::::. s .-- ~ - :~ 1. { ~ - ~ - ~ · ~ - \f ·t..:..!: •. -::;· . .:-. 1·· 'r~ - . .,... .~ ·--·:::-:-;:'J ... ·;:· .- :~ - ': :-:· · ~ -.... ::=: 1' .