'feeling' and sentimentality which characterizes the Fourth of July parade, Muzak, church services, and political campaigns." This further explains the purpose for the Open Theater and the reasoning behind opening such a space. Ensemble work Chaikin used ensemble casts as a way to explore the relationship between the actor and the outside world. He relied on the performers to interact not as characters in fictional settings, but as real people in real situations. While the Living Theater's ensemble was very external and audience oriented, Chaikin's was internal and oriented within the troupe itself. In 1963, Chaikin said "Working together, we teach ourselves." The ensemble worked in the "poor theater" style. There was no need for sets, costumes, props, or any of the other theatrical elements. There were no moving lights, only enough stationary light to be able to see. There was no music, instead, the actors would use their voices to create the sound effects. There were hardly any aspects of "rich" theater involved. On his reasons for using ensembles instead of a traditional cast and show, Chaikin said: I felt a terrific longing for a kind of ensemble. I wanted to play with actors, actors who felt a sensitivity for one another... In order to come to a vocabulary, we had to teach each other: we had no ambitions other than to meet and play around... Off-off Broadway's impulse was a terrific dissatisfaction with what is possible on Broadway... Off-off broadway is really an attack on the fourth wall. I want to destroy the fourth-wall business. I have difficulty believing most of what happens on Broadway. Mary Martin's like a character in a television commercial: nobody'’s like that. Location The ensemble met on Spring Street in Lower Manhattan in a warehouse. Disbanding and further works Chaikin disbanded the Open Theater in 1973, amid fears that it was becoming too institutionalized. He later went to work for the Public Theater. Chaikin continued to create workshops, but he was increasingly working on mainstream projects. Productions During the first two years of its existence, there were no productions performed by the Open Theater. Instead, there were occasional open rehearsals or workshops. The first major production was The Serpent, and it toured both nationally and internationally.The Serpent typifies what is extraordinary about the Open Theater. The production is a perfect example of experimental theatre at the time and how willing the company was