"Moby Dick, which Wilson envisioned for the stage along with the British art rocker Anna Calvi and the adapter-dramaturg Robert Koall, would be his last finished work. Great artists rarely trust that word, and Wilson was one of the greatest we had."
"In a theater ecosystem that's not exactly nutrient-rich for anyone, we've tended to build our institutions around writers. Is it any wonder that's where Wilson - born in Waco, Texas, to parents who thought theater was a sin - ended up?"
"Toiling away in New York in the early 1970s, he created the form-exploding opera Einstein on the Beach with the composer Philip Glass and the dancer-choreographer Lucinda Childs."
Robert Wilson's adaptation of Moby-Dick as a rock musical, created with Anna Calvi and Robert Koall, premiered in 2024 at Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf. This production represents Wilson's last completed work before his death in July 2025. Known for his contrasts in theater, Wilson's approach combines elements of darkness and light, turbulence and tenderness. His career reflects the challenges faced by American auteurs in a theater landscape often dominated by writers and European influences, highlighting his significant contributions to avant-garde performance.
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