The first performances of the Living Theatre were presented in the Becks' apartment in 1951. In planning for the development of the Living Theatre, Malina and Beck, who were married in 1948, consulted and collaborated with many people including Robert Edmond Jones, Jean Cocteau, John Cage, Paul Goodman, Eric Bentley, Frederick Kiesler, Aline Bernstein and others, some of whom became 'Sponsors' of the Living Theatre.
It also reflected their vision of a theater that would challenge and move the audience. The name reflected the founders' desire to create a theater essentially of its own time, which would be a part of the community. The Living Theatre was founded in 1947 by Judith Malina(1926-), a student of Erwin Piscator, and Julian Beck (1925-1985), an abstract expressionist painter of the New York School.
