Marshall 1

The Theatre of Robert Wilson

I.

II.

Early life
A. Born in Waco, Texas in 1941
B. Miss Bird Hoffman, an elderly dance instructor that he met in the 1950s helped
him with his speech impediment by encouraging him to relax and release the
tensions in his body through movement exercises.
a. Learned to speak very slowly
C. Studied painting with George McNeil an American abstract expressionist painter
in Paris after dropping out of business school
D. Studied with unconventional architect Paolo Soleri in Arizona following
graduation from Pratt Institute of Arts in 1965
a. Then worked with people who had mental and physical handicaps for two
years
E. Founded the Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds
a. Started in 1968
b. A group of disciples, friends, and associates who made Wilsons early
work possible.
F. Wilson was bored by theatre, quit painting because he couldnt put on canvas the
pictures that were in his mind
Four Stages of Development
A. First Stage: Silent Operas
a. 1968: Wilson deaf-mute African American named Raymond Andrews.
Wilson adopts the boy to try and educate him. He learned from realized
that he thought, not in words, but in visual signs.
i. Learned from Raymond by doing body language workshops.
Learned how subtle and sophisticated body language can be!
ii. Lead to the creation of Deafman Glance which is based on the
pictures Raymond drew to communicate with him.
iii. Became interested in breaking linguistic codes and creating new
ones based on some of Raymonds unconventional writings.
b. This period is characterized by stage pictures that refer to childhood
drawings and story books.
B. Second Period: Deconstructing Language
a. The muse for this period was a child named Chris Knowles.
i. An autistic child who plays with language like a jigsaw puzzle
ii. Arranges the pieces into unexpected patterns; patterns according to
sounds, visual architecture, and mathematical formulas
b. This period begins with A Letter for Queen Victoria
c. Wilson disbands the Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds and works more with
professionals
i. Takes on the role of Playwright
ii. Style changes visually
1. Geometric aesthetic becomes sharper

Marshall 2

III.

2. Black, White, and Gray are dominant colors

3. Visually it becomes more sophisticated and formal, abstract
and elegant. Less nave.
d. Einstein on the Beach (1976) is the most celebrated work from this period.
i. A mystical farce
ii. Uses music, dance, drama, and visual art
iii. Constructed around three visual motifs: the train, the trial, the
spaceship. Each happens thrice.
iv. Music by Phillip Glass (minimalist composer)
e. Plays are non-linear, but not non narrative.
f. Veils narrative by emphasizing artistic devices rather than story line.
C. Third Stage: From Semiotics to Semantics
a. Muse for this period is Heiner Mller
i. Regarded as one of the greatest living playwrights
ii. Collaborated with Wilson on his play the CIVILwars (1984)
iii. Used many of Mllers texts in various productions
iv. Directed both Mllers Hamletmachine and Quartet
b. In the 70s, Wilson stated that he did not want to direct the work of others.
That it is important to create new work.
i. Started to explore classic text
1. 1985 did a workshop of King Lear
c. Wilson worked frequently in Germany, where his work was nurtured and
grew.
d. The CIVILwars was cancelled at the LA Olympics Arts Festival in 1984
e. Could not raise the money to bring it together in LA in America
i. David Bowie as Abraham Lincoln reading the Gettysberg Address
in Japanese sent American corporate donors into paroxysms of
anger.
f. Learned a lot about sound from Hans-Peter Kuhn, who was a leading
sound artist in Germany
i. After which his soundscapes became more sophisticated
g. He also learned a lot about light in German theatres as well
h. Only lets actors in rare and special moments express emotion directly.
D. How to Do Things with Words
a. Wilson loves language
b. In this period Wilson confronts the classics
i. Uses opera to explore language as sound
c. When doing classical works he may move scenes, reassign text, use
repetition, or intercalate another text.
d. Wilson only does the work of dramatists whom he respects
e. Main character in A Letter for Queen Victoria is language.
f. The play asks : What is language made of? Why do we need it? How do
we use it? How does it work, Etc.
Goals and Methodologies

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a. Aspires to a condition of total freedom, freedom not only from authority and
convention but the constraints of time, language, and even meaning.
i. Does not need audience full attention
b. In watching his work, the spectator is inevitably drawn into its rhythms and
reached a point at which the heart rate lowed.
i. Not slow motion, but natural time
c. Keeps theory at arms length
d. Wilsons Workshop method:
i. Preparation starts years in advance.
ii. Wilson storyboards by thinking in terms of visual, musical, and non-verbal
means, with the body and silence.
1. Goal is to establish gestural language adequate to his productions,
and he keeps this language in mind as he draws his visual books.
e. Three phases: Table workshop (A meeting of the collaborators to talk through the
piece), Casting and a first workshop with the actors ( in auditions actors are asked
to walk, sit, speak short text, sing a few lines, and repeat a movement pattern
demonstrated by Wilson), and Production proper (Wilson arranges a week of
previews before the planed premier).