Robert Wilson

Robert Wilson is an American–European director who is also a performer, installation artist, writer, designer of light and much more besides – a crossover polymath who dissolves both generic and geographical boundaries and is a precursor of globalisation in the arts. This second edition of Robert Wilson combines: an analysis of his main productions, situated in their American and European socio-cultural and political contexts a focused, detailed study of Wilson’s pathbreaking Einstein on the Beach a study of Pushkin's Fairy Tales as the foremost example of his folk-rock music theatre in the twenty-first century an exploration of his ‘visual book’, workshop and rehearsal methods, and collaborative procedures a study of his aesthetic principles and the elements of composition that distinguish his directorial approach a series of practical exercises for students and practitioners highlighting Wilson’s technique. As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners offer unbeatable value for today’s student.

List of figures Acknowledgements A WORKING LIFE Becoming Robert Wilson Dance plays, silent operas and words Art and politics: the 1960s and after Wilson after Einstein METHOD, ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES A workshop method Elements and principles EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH Itinerary and reception Einstein on the Beach: a landmark Structure and form Breakdown of the work Summing up 4. POST SCRIPTUM OF 2017: PUSHKIN’S FAIRY TALES Style and 'camp' Display and cultural evocation 5. PRACTICAL EXERCISES Movement Body imaging Make-up Composing a silent play Sound and music Working with texts Light A short glossary of terms Bibliography Index

Maria Shevtsova is Professor of Drama and Theatre Arts at Goldsmiths, University of London.Her books includeDodin and the Maly Drama Theatre: Process to Performance (2004), Fifty Key Theatre Directors (2005), Sociology of Theatre and Performance (2009), Directors/Directing: Conversations on Theatre (co-authored, 2009) and The Cambridge Introduction to Theatre Directing (co-authored, 2013). Allher bookshave been translated into multiple languages, and she is co-editor of New Theatre Quarterly.