Robert Wilson's "The Old Woman" with Willem Dafoe and Mikhail Baryshnikov
Brilliant. I do not know when an audience responded more enthusiastically! This play is an adaptation of the work of Daniil Kharms, who, having been arressted, was imprisoned and then died of starvation in the gulags. "The Old Woman" is a novella written in the 1930's. Carrying echoes of Samuel Beckett and Ionesco in its deadpan narrative, it follows the story of a struggling writer who cannot make peace with himself.
The production was first partnered with the Spoleto Festival in Italy It is a Baryshnikov production. It was also commissioned by The Theatre de la Ville-Paris/Festival, about which I blogged a few weeks ago. . Wilson chose the two, Dafoe and Baryshnikov, because they complement each other, and yet he says, "I think of the two as one: the writer. And during the course of the play they change: A becomes B and B becomes A, because A and B are one whole, not two."
Baryshnikov felt it was incredibly difficult to do, and says, without Willem Dafoe, who is brilliant and confident in his role, he could not have done what he did under Robert Wilson's direction. Why: B says: "One minute you're a silent movie actor, the next a vaudevillian, the next a noh theater performer." That is true.
Dafoe who is brilliant, says, "I heard Bob Wilson say...one thing he 's leanred through the years is to enter the rehearsal room with no ideas, with a blank book". Rather than trying to make what's in his head, he prefers to see what is the room, hear the text, listen to the music, play with the space light and scenic elements, create a structure for the actors". That is similar to the way I would approach teaching...I always wanted to know who I was working with and what they were prepared to do, wanted to do, had the capacity to do..." It always made the work gratifying because I would learn from the students and then I would know they had learned from me.
"In the life and Death of Marina Abramovic, " (which Dafoe performed for Wilson)..." at the beginning there was a similar ambiguity in what my role or function would be. In the end it was so inspiring, and I loved so much working with Bob, that I was emboldened to take the leap to work on "The Old Woman". ...It's always mysterious to be part of an original work. As Bob says, "If you know what it is, what's the point of doing it?"
But finally there is the point at which I started. Daniil Kharms, whose book I have here now from AMAZON, but have yet to read....the production was amazing, though!
I saw this Sunday, November 23, so there is a little lag time here. I went with Clark and Susan Coolidge, who sat next to a Russian couple, who set us straight about Kharms starving.
The production was first partnered with the Spoleto Festival in Italy It is a Baryshnikov production. It was also commissioned by The Theatre de la Ville-Paris/Festival, about which I blogged a few weeks ago. . Wilson chose the two, Dafoe and Baryshnikov, because they complement each other, and yet he says, "I think of the two as one: the writer. And during the course of the play they change: A becomes B and B becomes A, because A and B are one whole, not two."
Baryshnikov felt it was incredibly difficult to do, and says, without Willem Dafoe, who is brilliant and confident in his role, he could not have done what he did under Robert Wilson's direction. Why: B says: "One minute you're a silent movie actor, the next a vaudevillian, the next a noh theater performer." That is true.
Dafoe who is brilliant, says, "I heard Bob Wilson say...one thing he 's leanred through the years is to enter the rehearsal room with no ideas, with a blank book". Rather than trying to make what's in his head, he prefers to see what is the room, hear the text, listen to the music, play with the space light and scenic elements, create a structure for the actors". That is similar to the way I would approach teaching...I always wanted to know who I was working with and what they were prepared to do, wanted to do, had the capacity to do..." It always made the work gratifying because I would learn from the students and then I would know they had learned from me.
"In the life and Death of Marina Abramovic, " (which Dafoe performed for Wilson)..." at the beginning there was a similar ambiguity in what my role or function would be. In the end it was so inspiring, and I loved so much working with Bob, that I was emboldened to take the leap to work on "The Old Woman". ...It's always mysterious to be part of an original work. As Bob says, "If you know what it is, what's the point of doing it?"
But finally there is the point at which I started. Daniil Kharms, whose book I have here now from AMAZON, but have yet to read....the production was amazing, though!
I saw this Sunday, November 23, so there is a little lag time here. I went with Clark and Susan Coolidge, who sat next to a Russian couple, who set us straight about Kharms starving.
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| The curtain which becomes part of the action of the performance |
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