Performing Paradise offers a groundbreaking reassessment of one of the most influential yet misunderstood theatrical experiments of the twentieth century. This illuminating study delves deep into the aesthetic and cultural significance of the Living Theatre's revolutionary production "Paradise Now," tracing its journey from its French origins in 1968 through its controversial American tour and into its contemporary legacy. Through meticulous archival research, interviews with original collaborators and witnesses, and participation in modern reconstructions of the work, Emeline Jouve provides unprecedented insights into this landmark of collective creation. The book moves fluidly between historical analysis and contemporary perspective, examining both the original production's radical innovations in form and content and its fiftieth-anniversary revivals in France and Belgium in 2018. By contextualizing "Paradise Now" within the political landscapes of 1960s protest movements and experimental performance practices on both sides of the Atlantic, Jouve reveals the complex cultural exchanges that shaped this legendary work while dispelling persistent myths surrounding it. This compelling exploration will appeal to theatre historians, performance studies scholars, and practitioners interested in experimental theatre, as well as readers fascinated by 1960s counterculture, political art, and the enduring legacy of theatrical innovation.
