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Anne Bogart , Robert Wilson , Bob Robert Wilson , Director Robert Wilson , Robert Wilson
Opera , Theater Play Bob , Theater Robert Wilson , Entertainment NewsReact
Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyTheater: Bob Is A Clear-Eyed, Clever
Look At Director Robert Wilson
Bob *** 1/2 out of ****
SITI Company AT New York Live Arts
What a puckish, bold enterprise. Not only is Bob a show
about one of the most acclaimed theater and opera
directors working today -- Robert Wilson -- it profiles
him by using elements of his distinctive, ground-
breaking style. It was conceived and directed by AnneBogart, created and performed by Will Bond (who hasworked with Wilson) and has text adapted by JocelynClarke from interviews Wilson has given over the years.
With the landmark work Einstein on the Beach touring the world and set to arrive at BAM in the fall, it's
an ideal time to revisit this look at Wilson.
The director's own words tell us about his childhood, his insights on art, his working methods and stories
from his career, all of it presented in a style reminiscent of Wilson's own. But here's the importantdistinction: Bob is not imitative. Ultimately it is nothing like what Wilson might do with the same
material. It's rich in anecdote, quietly moving, funny and features a strong narrative as we learn his story.
Wilson began as a little boy growing up in Waco, Texas, with parents utterly bewildered by their son's
artistic leanings. Wilson describes an early piece he staged in his garage, with apparently the garage door
closing and then opening to reveal a new tableaux, such as one featuring his grandmother and sistermoving around the room ritually. Neighbors dragged their kids away and Wilson's dad found it not onlyweird but genuinely upsetting. Flash forward to years later when Wilson calls his dad to describe hislatest work: several thousand people show up every night to see a piece that contains no dialogue and it'sseven hours long. "I want you to come see it," says Wilson while we laugh.
Just as absorbing as Wilson's life story are the comments he makes about art in general and the way the
show illustrates how he'll come up with a movement and then refine and repeat it over and over. It's allperformed on a stage with Bond traversing a bare space defined by one giant square divided into ninesmaller squares. In one corner Bond begins the show sitting in a chair, staring at the quart of milk sitting
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on a table in the square at the opposite corner.
Throughout the show Bond approaches and surveys and plays with the quart of milk and the glass
originally hidden behind it. Clearly not lactose intolerant, Bond has devilish fun toying with these simple
elements in a formalized dance that embodies some of Wilson's approach to art. Artfully done on every
level, anecdote intersects with insight; at some stages Bond as Wilson hesitates and stumbles over his
words, at others he wonderfully demonstrates ideas like how the text can be divorced from movement
and strengthen the impact of both and the importance of slowing things down.
Wilson was profoundly influenced by a study that filmed new mothers in the act of reaching towards their
baby when the child was crying. At regular speed, you see a mother moving to comfort her child. Slow it
down frame by frame and the facial expressions and actions take on an entirely different light. Mothersseem to lunge for their child in an act of anger and frustration. It's a funny, fascinating tale, especially for
those who know how ritualized and...measured Wilson's direction can be. We hear the story and later we
see Bond act it out, frame by frame and again and again we circle this story, revealing it for the turning
point it became in his growth as an artist.
Like that film, Bob slows down the wildly prolific artist and let's us examine him step by step, frame by
frame, revealing the heart and intellect embedded in Wilson's avant-garde style. All of this is presented in
an impeccable production by Bogart whose every element works in concert. The set by Neil Patel, the
costume by James Schuette, the lighting by Brian H. Scott (with original lighting design by Mimi Jordan
Sherin), and especially the soundscape by Darron L. West (which combines everything from scraps of
songs by Harry Nilsson to muttering voices and orchestral passages to capure the quicksilver imagination
of Wilson) each work together beautifully. They pay the ultimate compliment to Wilson by not merelycopying his art but using it as a springboard for their own imaginations.
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Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
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