Maria Shevtsova is Professor of Drama and Theatre Arts at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her books include Dodin 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). All her books have been translated into multiple languages, and she is co-editor of New Theatre Quarterly.

CONTENTS

List of figures

Acknowledgements

1. A WORKING LIFE

Becoming Robert Wilson

Dance plays, silent operas and words

Art and politics: the 1960s and after

Wilson after Einstein

2. METHOD, ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES

A workshop method

Elements and principles

3. 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

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.