1977-'79-- Theatre of All Possibilities

NOTE: I was a "younger student" at the time I was involved with this group. Therefore my exposure to the physical violence was relatively small-- tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

A ticket quota meeting-- (Tickets to the play we were currently performing and were expected to sell tickets for)--
One by one, P an "older student" went down the line-- slapping and punching those who had not sold enough tickets. We were in the hallway in the theatre just
off the lobby and L, (an older student) was being beaten.He fell down into the opening between the lobby and hallway, maybe 30 feet from
where his 2 year old child was standing. "C'mon L", he was chided, "Don't hide behind your daughter." They then hauled him up for some more physical punishment.


I heard M & E get the crap beaten out of them in the theatre alley.( a group beating, a failrly common occurence) I think it had to do with some task they had "failed" at regarding the selling of Horn's book of plays. "Stop hitting me" I heard M moan. A few minutes later I saw their faces, swollen and bruised, (Not so strangely they seemed a little elated--physical punishment as catharsis or purification, was one of the principles of this group).


One night before a performance I saw D, J's wife backstage-- her face puffed up from a group beating (I'm pretty sure it was the women's group that had beaten her, given the group's sense of chivalry)."Jesus" I said at the time, not knowing or believing any better "what happened to you?"
"I got hit by a truck" she replied.
(Perhaps she was trying to "kill" Gans-- we were often told that people wanted to "kill-- literally kill" Sharon. Perhaps as a would-be assassin, D got off easy. )

Dress rehearsal for a play-- P, the stage manger or assistant director, got into the middle of an argument betwen Gans and Horn. Gans clawed at his face and then Horn informed him that "young man-- I am going to give you the thrashing of your life" and punched him to the ground-- all for an offense that seemed non-existent. A few minutes later G, another "older student" rounded out the evening by giving him another ass kicking.


I was coming down the stairs one day, when I heard an "older student" meeting in progress. I think W was trying to leave the group, And B, an "older student/teacher" (and still heavily involved with this group) said to him in a rage filled voice--" I would cut your throat..." "B", W pleaded, "it's me, W". I went back upstairs-- "older student" meetings were none of my business. But I wonder sometimes-- they were meeting in the restaurant in the basement of the theatre--did B go into the kitchen, take a knife and hold it, or actually hold it to W's throat? I don't know.

Since I've left the group, I think the amount of physical violence has subsided-- perhaps because of the San Francisco Chronicle article that caused the group to fold and go to Boston and New York. perhaps Gans and Horn decided that physical violence was too risky-- from what I've read about the later incarnations of the group (Odyssey Study Group et al) it was more of a change in tactics then of heart.

Just a stroll down memory lane...