Robert Wilson and His Collaborators by Laurence Shyer (review)

Book Reviews 459 Gennan stage in Argentina or the Spanish-language stage in France), but Hispanic theatre in the United States. as revea1ed in this book, is surprising for its diversity and its extended periods of both great popularity and high professional quality - sometimes in places which had not yet developed a comparable level in the ostensibly dominant English-language culture. The book is enriched by a 32-page insert of photographs and a glossary of Spanish theatrical tenns. English translations are provided for aU quotations. The study's usefulness as a reference tool is somewhat diminished by omissions from the index; for example. Spanish playwrights. while frequently mentioned within the text as an important source of plays, are not cited. Kanellos has made a significant contribution to the study ofAmerican theatre history. His book is essential reading for anyone interested in the subject and hopefully will serve as a catalyst for further research about the Hispanic-American stage. PHYLLIS ZATLlN, Rl.JfGERS UNIVERSITY LAURENCE SHYER. Robert Wi/son andHis Collaborators. New York:Theatre Communications Group 1989. pp. 347. $14.95 (U.S.) pb. As an anist, director, and perfonner for thirty years, Robert Wilson eventually attained international celebrity and a seemingly Warholian cult status. Quite like Warhol in many artistic goals and personal eccentricities - think of Warhol's film Sleep, for instance, or the repetitious soup-can and Marilyn screens - Wilson demands an unquestioning and devoted entourage, a production "factory" of sorts, and as Laurence Shyer puts it in his book's Introduction, "a virtual anny of designers, writers, dramaturgs, actors, dancers, composers, and producers, some celebrated in their own right and others barely known, all of whom are essentiaL" In a word, Wilson requires collaborators. In this meticulously researched·and extremely well written book, Robert Wilson and His Collaborators, Laurence Shyer surreptitiously collaborates with Wilson as historian, intellectual exegete, and - in the invaluable Back ofThe Book section - as his chronologist . Shyerreserves and perhaps suppresses his usually acute critical judgments. (I known Shyer'S work. for we were drama classmates years ago.) Instead, he offers evocative descriptions, objective recording, and an interesting chapter arrangement of material gleaned from interviews with dozensofWilson'scollaborators, including Heiner MUller, Philip Glass. David Byrne, Lucinda Childs, and Allen Ginsberg among others. Shyer'S introductory essay offers a perceptive overview of Wilson's work. Calling him ••a painter in the theatre," Shyer notes that' 'his is a true theatre of image and the proof of this is that design is not placed in a subordinate position to a text and dramatic situation; the visual elements are neither decoration nor elaboration, they are the work's content.'· Compare this statement to a representative Wilson quotation: "My work is a mystery to me." In deed and in word, Wilson needs Shyer as a clarifying collaborator, panicularly for those who have not experienced Wilson's work in theatrical praxis. Splendid photographs enhance the volume. too. Book Reviews The book contains five chapters which divide Wilson's collaborators according to their contributions. In the first chapter, " Perfomtance and Perfonners," Shyer works with interviews ofSheryl Sutton, David Warrilow. and Wilson in concert with Christoper Knowles, along with a detailed account of Wilson's original Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds and KA MOUNTAiN: The Seven Day Play. Sheryl Sutton appeared in Deafman Glance (1970); in KA MOUNTAiN (1972), she peeled an onion on stage for two hours. Sutton remarks. "What Bob has given you to do iso't int~resting enough to concentrate on alone. You also lose some depth - notoDly as a perfonnerbut as a person." Sutton's observation may partially explain why Wilson initially preferred to work with " ordinary" people - which is to say non-professionals or handicapped children. The section on the School of Byrds relates their activity after the Iran staging of KA MOUNTAIN; they went on to perfonn the twenty-four hour Overture at Opera Comique, then The Ufe and Times ofJoseph Stalin (1973 and 1974), and finally The $ Value of Man at BAM in 1974. When the group disbanded, the Byrd Hoffman Foundation took its place as Wilson's administrative organization. In the second chapter, "Writers, Dramaturgs and Texts," Shyer discusses the coUaborative work of...