Los Angeles Review of Books: Hilton Als on His Playwrighting Debut: Robert Wilson, Race, and the Avant Garde
Critic, photographer and artist, Hilton Als joins Kate and Medaya to discuss his debut play, Lives of the Performers, which tells the story of actress Sheryl Sutton, one of the lead actors in Robert Wilson’s ground-shattering troupe in the 1970s. Als, the former theater critic at the New Yorker, also discusses his fascination with twins, writing a play, and the role race has played in the history of the avant-garde.
The show also includes a spirited debate among the hosts about this year’s soporific Golden Globes: are woke actors enough to keep you awake?
Also, legendary film critic J Hoberman returns to explain why his favorite film of 2019, Mary Harron’s Charlie Says, was a superior take on the Manson Family saga than Quintin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Listen to the full interview here.
Robert Wilson's new Verdi and Puccini operas
Good news to all Friends of Italian Opera: over the next 12 months, you will be able to see three of Verdi's masterpieces and one by Puccini, directed by Robert Wilson, in different European locations.
The Troubadour will première at the Verdi Festival in Parma on September 29 in the rarely performed French version (Le Trouvère), which the composer adapted in the style of a "Grand Opéra" for Parisian audiences in 1855. The performances will be conducted by Roberto Abbado. Shortly after that, on October 12, 14 and 16, Bob Wilson's beloved production of La Traviata, under the baton of Teodor Currentzis and with the MusicAeterna orchestra from Perm, will perform at the Grand Théâtre de la Ville in Luxembourg. Opening on November 30, and with performances throughout December, will be a new production of Puccini's Turandot at the Teatro Real in Madrid. Finally, Wilson will direct a new Otello for the Baden-Baden Festival next April, in which the Berlin Philharmonic will play under the baton of Daniele Gatti.
Last Night in Norway
If you run into a troll: Dance! #lastnightinsweden
EDDA in Oslo: First Production Photographs
The first production photos of Jon Fosse and Robert Wilson's new version of the Icelandic epic Edda are here. The work will open on March 4, 2017 at Det Norske Teatret in Oslo, Norway, and play throughout the months of March and April there. Visit their web site for more information and tickets. In October this year, the European Cultural Capital - Aarhus, Denmark - will host six performances of Edda (click here for their web site).
LETTER TO A MAN is touring. And coming to the US!
Letter to a Man, Robert Wilson's solo for the one and only Mikhail Baryshnikov, which premiered last year at the Spoleto Festival dei due Mondi (Italy), is currently touring Europe. After successful performances at Madrid's Teatros del Canal in May, it can be seen in Lyon and Montecarlo later this month.
Post-summer the production - Wilson's second stage collaboration with Baryshnikov after The Old Woman - will come stateside, touring both coasts:
Photograph © Lucie Jansch
The Tower of Babel
I had a great time in Frankfurt recording The Tower of Babel, a new radio play for the Hessischer Rundfunk and BBC.
The Blacks in Antwerp
My recent production The Blacks [Les Nègres], which premiered at l'Odéon Théâtre de l'Europe this past fall, just made its Antwerp debut on Sunday!
Enjoy this little video, courtesy of deSingel Internationale Kunstcampus, featuring a brief interview with me on the productions
"Les Nègres," een theaterstuk van de Fransman Jean Genet, gaat over racisme. Het is de bedoeling om het publiek op een flamboyante manier een spiegel voor te houden. Omdat racisme de wereld nog lang niet uit is. VRT journaal, 25 januari 2015