CV
Selected
Alchemical Studios 917-645-2569
104 W. 14th Street, New York, NY 10011 carlo.altomare@gmail.com
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PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
2005 – present Founder /Artistic Director, Alchemical Studios, NYC
Appearance: A Suspense in Being, dir. by Carlo Altomare –
Collective creation, first exploration of Jazz Acting, a para-theatrical piece about acting.
Subliminal Reports, dir. by Carlo Altomare & Orietta Crispino - 8 soliloquy performances devised by the actors
Bodies of Evidence, dir. by Carlo Altomare & Orietta Crispino - 7 soliloquy performances devised by the actors
Excavation, Carlo Altomare, open piano and soundscape & Naoki Iwakawa, live action painter –
Action Painting Performance series. 13 sessions over 2 years.
Classes in Objective Acting, Jazz Acting, Living Theatre techniques, Meyerhold's Biomechanics
The Alchemical also curates experimental theatre, performance, music and visual art events.
1983 - present
 Study/Research/Lectures/Teaching

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
1982 –present Founder / Director / Actor / Composer The Alchemical Theatre
New York City/Seattle/Europe
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
2000
 Writer and Composer for TV series “Citizen Reno” Bravo Network
1992 – 1994
 Guest Professorship/Public Workshops DAMU, Czech Republic/Prague Public classes and undergraduate creative movement and master classes in Meyerhold’s Biomechanics
1982 – 1986 Research and Editing Assistant to Dr. Maria Ley Piscator The Piscator Foundation, NYC
For her book Objective Acting: Contact Theory and Practice
1973 – 2012 Actor/Composer/Collective Creation The Living Theatre, NYC/Europe
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
Korach, The Biblical Anarchist
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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
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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
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SELECTED LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS
New York University, Experimental Theatre Wing - Rosemary Quinn, Director
Lecture/Demonstration of Meyerhold's Biomechanics and The Living Theatre's work
Columbia University, Graduate Studies, French Philology - Sylvere Lotringer, Prof.
Lecture on 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 on The Alchemical Theatre's There Is No More Firmament and Pure War/The Madness Of The Day
Free University of Berlin
Lecture/Demonstration of 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 on Biomechanics, Collective Creation, and Radical Public Assembly
The New School for Social Research, New York City
Lecture/Demonstration of 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)
The Alchemical Theatre Laboratory/Theaterlab, NYC
Reading and discussion group on Antonin Artaud
Objective Acting, Jazz Acting, Living Theatre Techniques, Meyerhold's Biomechanics
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COMPOSITION
Select Works for Theatre
1999 Loretta Auditorium The Alchemical Theatre, NYC Music for prepared piano and clarinet
1989 I and I by Elsa Lasker-Schuler The Living Theatre, NYC

Music for piano and percussion with songs and chorus
1987 The Tablets by Armand Schwerner The Living Theatre, NYC
Music for piano, electric bass, synth, and percussion, with songs and antiphonal chorus

1984 Pure War/The Madness of the Day The Alchemical Theatre, NYC/Poland
Music for piano, trumpet, percussion, and tape
1982 There Is No More Firmament by Antonin Artaud The Alchemical Theatre, NYC
Adapted by Carlo Altomare
Music for small theatre ensemble: prepared piano, violin, clarinet, percussion, tape, and chorus

1982 The Daily Activity of Slaves The Alchemical Theatre, NYC
Based on The Reproduction of Daily Life by Freddie Perlman
Music for tape, percussion, and chorus

1982 The Law/This Place, two one-act plays by Nick Markovich The Alchemical Theatre, NYC
Music for prepared piano, clarinet, and violin

1981 Are You Now or Have You Ever Been The Alchemical Theatre, NYC

Music for percussion and chorus

1981 Greetings From The Abyss The Alchemical Theatre, NYC
Music for tape, percussion, and chorus

1979 Mogadishu: Fear and Flying The Living Theatre, Frankfurt
Music for piano, prepared piano, percussion, and tape
1978 Prometheus The Living Theatre, Rome
Music for piano, prepared piano, percussion, and two 4 track tapes

1976 The Body of Giuseppe Pinelli The Living Theatre, Torino
Percussion Piece for single Drum w/ Recitation and Chorus
1975 The Dismantling of the Money Tower The Living Theatre, Biennale di Venezia
Industrial and melodic tape score w/ live operatic Sprechstimmer. (5 hr continuous score)
Found objects, analog synth., prepared piano, tape manipulation and splicing, voices
1972 Yevtushenko and Friends, prod. by Doubleday Inc. The Felt Forum, NYC

Music for chorus and rock ensemble for the Russian poet Yevtushenko’s premier reading in America: with Ginsberg, Wilbur, Kunitz, et al.
Film and TV
2000 Citizen Reno
 Bravo Network

Four Episode Project with the comedian, Reno Aired in April 2001. Composer and Writer
1983 Signals Through The Flames
 Mystic Fire Video, NYC

A film by Sheldon Rochlin and Maxine Harris. Composer and Music Editor

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REFERENCES
Jean-Marie Pradier, Laboratoire d'ethnoscénologie, doctorate program, Universite Paris 8, tel. (01) 49 40 66 16
Fanette Vandeville, Theatre Professor, Universite Paris 8, tel. (01) 49 40 66 16
Sylvere Lotringer, Professor, French Philology, Columbia University; Founder: Semiotext(e) Magazine, foreignagent1@earthlink.net
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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