The Long View: Talking Band Turns Fifty

• Published in: PAJ (Baltimore, Md.) Md.), 2024-09, Vol.46 (3), p.38-46
• Main Author: Gillespie, Benjamin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anniversaries; Experimental theater; Performance seasons; Theater companies
• ISSN: 1520-281X; 1537-9477
• DOI: 10.1162/pajj_a_00727

The year 2024 marked the fiftieth anniversary season of New York-based theatre company Talking Band. Founded in 1974, the company has created over fifty new works of theatre since its inception. Made up of founding members Paul Zimet (the company’s artistic director), Ellen Maddow, and Tina Shepard, these artists met while working in Joseph Chaikin’s Open Theatre and formed Talking Band in the year after Chaikin disbanded his own company. Together, they write, perform, choreograph, compose, and direct original pieces, often collaborating with other artists in the process, including Taylor Mac, Anne Bogart, and 600 Highwaymen to name only the most recent examples.This year, the company staged three full-scale productions to mark its anniversary: The Following Evening, a collaboration with 600 Highwaymen’s Abigail Browde and Michael Silverstone performed at the new 500-million-dollar Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC) at the World Trade Center in January; Existentialism, directed by Anne Bogart at La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Theatre in February and March; and Shimmer and Herringbone presented in association with Mabou Mines at 122CC in May. Zimet and Maddow both appeared in The Following Evening and Existentialism; Maddow also appeared in Shimmer and Herringbone alongside Shepard, with Zimet co-writing and directing the production. Staging three different shows in the span of four months is a remarkable feat for any theatre company, but at the ages of 82 (Zimet), 76 (Maddow), and 83 (Shepard), this milestone seems particularly important to reflect upon in the present moment.