|
|
|
|
|
|
Resources |
|
|
|
Robert Wilson: Man of the Modern Theater
| Article
# : |
12295 |
|
|
Section : |
THE ARTS
|
| Issue
Date : |
1 / 1987 |
2,508 Words |
| Author
: |
Henri Behar
Henri Behar, author and film critic, is cultural correspondent
for Le Monde (Paris). |
Fabulous or fake? A theatrical guru - bordering on the messiah - or a splendidly orchestrated P.R. job? An innovator, a revolutionary, a visionary - or a prankster who, in 1971, at a "press conference" in Yugoslavia, repeated the word, "dinosaur" over and over for twelve hours while peeling then cutting an onion? What is this fellow all about? Is there a similarity between Jean-Luc Godard and Robert Wilson insofar as, some would say, they are their own best jokes?
Terming him 'controversial' is a masterpiece of understatement. Yet he sets himself apart from - admirers say "above" - the controversy and carries on with his work. From The Life and Times of Sigmund Freud to Deafman Glance to Einstein on The Beach to CIVIL warS through A Letter for Queen Victoria, I was Sitting On My Patio This Guy Appeared I thought I was Hallucinating and DIALOG, Robert Wilson has consistently broken every rule in the book and created his own language.
Normal running time? Stage? Dialogue? Plot? Who says a play has to last two or three hours? Or eight as is the case for Nicholas Nickleby? Why not a day? Or two? Or three? His presentations last as long as he feels they have to: from whatever to one hundred and sixty eight - seven days and seven nights non-stop, a feat he achieved at the Shiraz Festival in Iran in 1972.
A stage? Why not - but then why? He feels free to use opera houses, auditoria, arenas, football fields, or mountaintops. "I work best on a large scale," he says.
Plot? "What is it about?" may very well be the single, most constantly irrelevant
... (1995 of 14499 Characters)
Read Full Article
|
|
