The Holy Theatre, part 2 (p 61-72) Summary and Analysis

"The Happening" is a theatrical experience that is just that—an experience. There are no definitions, no boundaries. It offers a considerable challenge to both its creators and to those who observe it, in that for meaning to exist there must be some understanding somewhere of how the experience is to be used. "Those of us who work in theatre", he writes, "are implicitly challenged to go ahead to meet that [holy] hunger." He then explores at some length the work and intent of three artists determined to find new ways to do just that.

The first artist is American dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham, whose work focuses on the impulses, from the most consuming to the most apparently insignificant, that trigger further movement and further impulses, which in turn...