RICARDO FRAYHA
producer

As a homage to revolutionary composer John Cage, Robert Wilson performs Cage’s Lecture on Nothing, one of the central texts of twentieth-century experimental literature. The production has been described as being an “acoustically and visually inspiring approach to the philosophical and poetic text” which Cage based on a complex time length scheme similar to some of his music. “Cage’s text is charming, often amusing, often quotable, equally often intentionally infuriating and profoundly thought provoking. The composer was in a period of transition, moving away from somewhat traditional composition to the making of music that incorporated chance elements and that treated silence with devout respect. [...] Wilson makes exceptionally beautiful things. His stage props belong in museums. Yet his theatre is non-narrative, only understood by experiencing it, living it. ‘All I know about method,’ Cage writes at the end of Lecture on Nothing, ‘is that when I am not working I sometimes think I know something, but when I am working, it is quite clear that I know nothing.’ Others might call that enlightenment. Wilson, sublimely, showed why.” — Mark Swed in the Los Angeles Times, October 16, 2013

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ROBERT WILSON

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Born in Waco, Texas, Wilson is among the world’s foremost theater and visual artists. His works for the stage unconventionally integrate a wide variety of artistic media, including dance, movement, lighting, sculpture, music and text. His images are aesthetically striking and emotionally charged, and his productions have earned the acclaim of audiences and critics worldwide. After being educated at the University of Texas and Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, Wilson founded the New York-based performance collective “The Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds” in the mid-1960s, and developed his first signature works, including Deafman Glance (1970) and A Letter for Queen Victoria (1974-1975). With Philip Glass he wrote the seminal opera Einstein on the Beach (1976). Wilson’s artistic collaborators include many writers and musicians such as Heiner Müller, Tom Waits, Susan Sontag, Laurie Anderson, William Burroughs, Lou Reed, Jessye Norman and Anna Calvi. He has also left his imprint on masterworks such as Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, Brecht/Weill’s Threepenny Opera, Debussy’s Pelléas et Melisande, Goethe’s Faust, Homer’s Odyssey, Jean de la Fontaine’s Fables, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Verdi’s La Traviata and Sophocles’ Oedipus. Wilson's drawings, paintings and sculptures have been presented around the world in hundreds of solo and group showings, and his works are held in private collections and museums throughout the world. Wilson has been honored with numerous awards for excellence, including a Pulitzer Prize nomination, two Premio Ubu awards, the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale, and an Olivier Award. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, as well as the German Academy of the Arts, and holds 8 Honorary Doctorate degrees. France pronounced him Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (2003) and Officer of the Legion of Honor (2014); Germany awarded him the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit (2014). Wilson is the founder and Artistic Director of The Watermill Center, a laboratory for the Arts in Water Mill, New York.

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LECTURE ON NOTHING

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Text by John Cage | Created, directed and performed by Robert Wilson | Man with eyeglass: Tilman Hecker | Co-directors: Tilman Hecker, Ann-Christin Rommen | Dramaturgy: Stephan Buchberger | Make up: Manu Halligan | Music: Arno Kraehahn | Video: Tomek Jeziorski | Technical director: Reinhard Bichsel | Text translation: Victor Scatolin

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Originally commissioned and produced by RuhrTriennale (Germany)

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Executive production: Change Performing Arts, Milan, Italy | Director: Franco Laera | Production coordinator: Virginia Forlani | Public relations: Maristela Gaudio | Personal assistant to Robert Wilson: Nelson Gellrich

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Production in Brazil: prod.art.br | Production directors: Ricardo Muniz Fernandes, Ricardo Frayha | Technical direction: Julio Cesarini | Production assistant: Mariana Mastrocola | Technicians: Ednomar Mendonça, Enrique Casas, Fernando Zimolo, Wanderley Wagner da Silva, Rafael da Silva, William Torres | Light team: Igor Sane, Patrícia Savoy, Rodrigo Campos | Sound and video team: Danilo Curvinel, Everton Gomes, Rodrigo Gava | Make-up: Leandro Barrocal | Stand-in: Fabricio Licursi | Projeto gráfico: Érico Peretta

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Realisation: Sesc São Paulo

Sesc 24 de Maio

São Paulo, SP, Brazil

01 and 02/09/2017