Chronology Tom Walker
1947: born in Torrington, CT. to A.Scott Walker and Helen Walker.
Scott Walker was a farmer, real estate agent, and contractor. Helen Walker was a
teacher of reading and Latin. Tom has one sister, five years his senior. Grows up in
Cornwall, CT, a small town in nw CT. Influenced by the many artists and writers
who reside in the area: Mark Van Doren, Armand Landeck, Marc Simont, Pepino
Mangravite, and others.
1955-1956: spends 10 months in Europe with family, traveling around the continent. 5
months living in Biot, southern France. School at Anglo-American Children’s
School in Cannes.
1961: graduates Cornwall Consolidated School; enters the Kent School, Kent, CT
1966: graduates Kent School with honors; wins Columbia Cup, Guild Cup
1966: spends two months in Japan with Experiment in International Living
1966: enters Yale University; studies psychology with Michael Kahn, influenced
by minister William Sloane Coffin
1968: spends summer in San Francisco in effort to set up street theater company
1968: sees Living Theatre for the first time as the company begins American tour; sees
the company several times in New York and Boston
1969: travels in Europe on Bates Fellowship from Yale; sees the Living again in London;
attends workshop at Odin Theater in Denmark; sees Berliner Ensemble in Berlin;
studies with Andre Gregory, Richard Gilman, and Gordon Rogoff
1970: plays a major role in the student strike at Yale in spring, on the occasion of the
large demonstrations called by the Black Panther Party in New Haven for May Day
1970: spends summer in New Haven, in the employ of Yale, running a drop-in center at
the Dwight Hall center on the campus
1971: officially graduates Yale University
1971: travels to Brazil; spends two months with The Living Theatre in Ouro Preto in the
state of Minas Gerais. Spends two months in jail with the Living. Deported Sept.
1971.
1972: begins to live in East Village in New York. Works with local gay activists. Works
with Jim Anderson, veteran Living Theatre actor, in setting up food cooperatives.
1973: rejoins The Living Theatre as an actor
1974: moves to Brooklyn; begins to perform with Living: "Seven Meditations on
Political Sado-Masochism", and "The Strike Support Oratorio", created in
solidarity with the United Farm Workers. Living Theatre moves to Vermont for
the summer. Moves to Pittsburgh at end of year.
1975: Tom continues to work with the Living in Pittsburgh on play cycle, "The Legacy of
Cain". Helps create "Six Public Acts", five hour itinerant street theater play, and
"The Money Tower", a play about the social system performed on five story tower
in the open. The Living performs free theater for 20 days in Pittsburgh in Sept.,
including "The Money Tower" outside steel factory gates in several locations.
1975: The Living Theatre begins European tour in Oct. Venice Biennale, Denmark,
France. The Living takes residency in Dec. in Reggio Emilia, Italy.
1976: Residency in Torino in spring. Touring in northern Italy, and in summer, in Sicily.
Out of 25 people, half the company departs by Sept. 15 to 17 people continue to
tour thru 1976, ending the year in Naples.
1977: The company tours Italy, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland. Settles in Rome
in two apartments. After years of avoiding formal indoor establishment theater
arrangements(a policy begun in 1970 by Julian Beck and Judith Malina), the
company begins work on a major indoor spectacle for traditional proscenium
arch theaters, "Prometheus".
1978: "Prometheus" opens in Rome in Sept. Constant touring all over Italy; fall tour to
Ireland, France.
1979: Touring to London and Greece. "Antigone" is revived(originally created by the
Living in 1967). Constant touring in Italy.
1980: Residency in Munich for the creation of "The One And The Many" by Ernst
Toller. Touring in Italy, Germany, Poland, and for one illegal morning, in Prague.
1981: Extensive touring in Italy, Austria, Spain and France.
1982: Touring Italy, France, and Scandanavia
1983: Residency in Nantes, France for the creation of "The Archaeology of Sleep".
The company leaves residency in Rome. Julian Beck falls ill to cancer. Company
disbanded in June.
1983: Tom returns to live in U.S. Beck begins filming "Cotton Club" with Francis
Coppola; company reunited for engagement at Joyce Theater in New York.
1984: Joyce Theater engagement in January; company disbanded again after
engagement; Beck falls ill again.
1985: Tom takes part in "A Beckett Trilogy", directed by Gerald Thomas at LaMaMa
Theater in New York; Beck is also in cast. Tom enters Actors Equity.
1985: Julian Beck dies Sept. 14; Tom performs in "Worstward Ho!"(Samuel Beckett)
with Frederick Neumann, produced by Mabou Mines
1986: Tom takes part in Living Theatre "Retrospectacle" at Cooper Union, NYC;
stage manages for David Cale, performance artist
1987: performs in "Poland 1931", Hanon Reznikov’s adaptation of poetry cycle by
Jerome Rothenberg.; workshops in Italy(revival of "Mysteries And Smaller
Pieces", created by the company in 1965)
1988: performs in "VKTMS" by Michael McClure; workshop in Italy("The Living
Theatre Seder" in Milan)
1989: The Living Theatre opens a theater on E. 3rd St. in East Village. Walker performs
in "The Tablets", Hanon Reznikov’s adaptation of Armand Schwerner’s poetry
cycle.
1989: performs in "I And I" by Ilse Lasker Schuler, directed by Judith Malina.
1990: constant performances on E. 3rd St. Tour in Europe of "The Tablets" and
"I And I" in Italy, Spain, and Germany.
1991: performs in "The Rules of Civility", Reznikov’s adaptation of George
Washington’s childhood rule book. Tour to Italy and Hungary.
1992: Walker tours as stage manager for "The Zero Method", a two person show with
Reznikov and Malina; tour throughout Italy
1993: Living Theatre closes E. 3rd St. theater in January; tours of "The Rules of Civility"
in Germany in spring; and "Rules", "Zero Method" , and "Mysteries" in
New Mexico in fall
1994: performs in "Anarchia", by Reznikov; begins work with the Dar A Luz company,
directed by Reza Abdoh, as house manager for "The Law Of Remains"(performs
small cameo in same production)
1994: "Mysteries" in Czechoslovakia
1995: invited to join Reza Abdoh’s company, but due to Abdoh’s death, returns to
Living for tour of Italy with "Anarchia" and "Mysteries"
1996: creation of "Utopia" in Germany; tour of Belgium and Italy
1997: Walker directs creation of "Events" with Living Theater actors in NY; tour of
"Mysteries" to Sarajevo; performs as Pastor Manders in "Ghosts" at the
University of Tennessee, directed by Henryk Baranovsky.
1998: Walker performs in "Chisciotte", directed by Malina, produced by Teatro Alfieri
of Asti, Italy; tours thoughout Italy; performs in "Capital Changes" in NY
1999: second Italian tour of "Chisciotte"; Living Theatre residence begins in Rocchetta
Ligure in the province of Alessandria in Piemonte, Italy. It will last five years.
Performs in "1839" with the Gale Gates Group in Brooklyn, NY
2000: residence in Italy for 7 months; several workshops and street performances;
creation of "Resistence", a play about the Italian resistence to the Nazis and the
fascists in 1944.
2001: "Resistence" performed at the Chashama theater in NYC; residency continues in
Rocchetta Ligure; tours to Lebanon and in Italy; workshop in Genova on the
occasion of the G8 meetings, July 2001.
2002: several workshops and performances in Italy
2003: creation of "Enigmas", premiered in Naples; appears in the film, "Resist",
released by Alligator Films and directed by Dirk Szuszies, an account of the
year 2001 in the life of the Living Theatre
2004: Walker resides in Rocchetta alone, in an attempt to save the Rocchetta residency
from ending, due to local political difficulties; participates in several local art
exhibitions; performs in "Anchorpectoris", directed by Gerald Thomas, at
LaMaMa in NYC
2005: in New York full time; participates in creation of "Living/Utopia", a documentary
film by Gigi Roccatti of Torino. Continues painting and writing. Active in
archive projects for The Living Theatre in New York and Italy.