robert wilson

For each and every performance the theater director, playwright, choreographer, and sound and lighting designer Robert Wilson creates, time isn’t just of the essence—it is the essence. Perhaps best known as the director of the four-act opera Einstein on the Beach, which he composed with Philip Glass and debuted in 1976, Wilson now has nearly 200 stage productions to his name. These include Dorian, which premiered last year in Düsseldorf, and The Life and Death of Marina Abramović, which opened at the Manchester International Festival in 2011. What stands out about Wilson’s work, among many things, is its rare ability to disorient viewers while also enchanting them. Duration is often another part of the equation: Some of the performances on Wilson’s résumé have ranged from seven hours to an astonishing seven days. Many critics, writers, and scholars have agreed that Wilson has completely reshaped the landscape of theater, vastly expanding its vocabularies and horizons.

On this episode, Wilson talks about his personal philosophies around silence and sound, the intersections of architecture and theater, and his enduring vision for the Watermill Center.

Special thanks to our Season 8 sponsor, Van Cleef & Arpels.

Show notes:

[04:31] The King of Spain

[04:32] The Life and Times of Sigmund Freud

[04:34] Deafman Glance

[04:59] John Cage

[09:02] Madama Butterfly

[13:51] “Time to Think”

[14:34] Marina Abramović

[16:37] The Ring

[16:39] King Lear

[16:41] Einstein on the Beach

[16:43] Philip Glass

[18:14] Parsifal

[18:50] The Watermill Center

[28:55] Dorian

[32:09] Time Rocker

[32:15] Lou Reed

[34:27] Ka Mountain and Guardenia Terrace

[39:28] Festival of Autumn in Paris

[40:38] The Golden Windows

[41:04] Pratt Institute

[43:45] Medea

[44:48] Edison

[44:58] Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights

[45:00] Relative Calm

[46:32] H-100 Seconds to Midnight

[52:27] The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin

[52:40] A Letter for Queen Victoria

Suzie Miller was a lawyer before she became a playwright. Now, Prima Facie, a play that takes her back to the courtroom, has launched her career on the West End and Broadway.

Also, experimental theatre-maker Robert Wilson transports audiences into an almost trance-like state of stillness. His Moving Portraits invoke a similar sense of stillness and theatricality.

In his 50-year career, English writer David Hare has written more than 30 plays. His latest, Straight Line Crazy, features a powerhouse performance by Ralph Fiennes as the autocratic American road builder, Robert Moses. 

Also, experimental theatre-maker Robert Wilson transports audiences into an almost trance-like state of stillness. His Moving Portraits now on display at the Art Gallery of South Australia invoke a similar sense of stillness and theatricality.

In times of rapid change, the temptation is to grasp the familiar, seek certainty and hunker down until 'normality' returns. But the question should be, 'is there such a thing as normal?' Short-term regularities are often dominated by long-term trends, such that short-term theory is often unhelpful for navigating uncertainty. Steady states are becoming increasingly rare, the belief in 'reversion to the mean' is less relevant than ever and, ultimately, investors are better placed focusing on the main game – long-term change driven by the real economy and real innovation, rather than being distracted by patterns emergent in financial markets or even economic policy response. - Robert Wilson, Baillie Gifford. Earn 0.25 CE/CPD hrs on Portfolio Construction Forum

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As Abraham Lincoln rose in the ranks of the Illinois Whig Party, he displayed strong political skills that played a key role in getting the capital of Illinois moved to Springfield. He also showed political opportunism, and frequently, appalling racism in trying to bring voters to his party's column