The Theatre of Robert Wilson by Arthur Holmberg (review)

Book Reviews 177 subverts the tone of the production. And a discussion of the different locations of laughter in The Shoo Fly Regimelll between black and white audiences reveals just how reader friendly these works could be. Such closely observed moments get to the central thesis of Krasner's work. These artists manifested a simultaneous acceptance of and rebellion against the prevalent cultural hegemonies. The rebellion (or parody and resistance), however, is what is most difficult to read in the extant documents. It is what is lost in translation and over time until we learn to interrogate them. Krasner's book is an excellent example of such revisionist scholarship. I have only one complaint, and that is my wish for more of the close readings . I wanted more information on the shape, colour and movement of the perfonnances. even at the expense of some of the contextual discussion, which did tend (useful as it was) to undermine the focus on performance. There was also a habit of extensive quotation in the more theoretical writing; and, while the author certainly quotes from the best, I personally found that his own words generated more significant meaning for me. STEPHEN JOH NSON, MCMASTER UN I VERS ITY ARTHUR HOLMBERG. The Theatre of Robert Wilson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [996. Pp. 229· $54·95. The publisher's blurb claims that Arthur Holmberg's The Theatre of Robert Wilson provides "the first comprehensive study of Wilson." Not true. Back in 1991, Modern Drama reviewed Robert Wilson alld His Collaborators, a meticulously researched and very well-written book by Laurence Shyer. (I wrote the review.) Shyer's book remains superior, particularly for theatre students who struggle when trying to write about Wilson's complicated and visually stunning work, for Shyer does not fall into the over-intellectualizing trap that ensnares Arthur Holmberg in his aggrandizing and often annoying book. In the first chapter, "Contextualizing Wilson: from semiotics to semantics," Holmberg imposes artificial categories: "To appreciate the arc of Wilson's career, it makes sense to divide his development into four major periods: r) silent operas; 2) deconstructing language; 3) from semiotics to semantics; 4) ' how to do things with words': confronting the classics" (2). This unnecessary and useless classification rings false, and the prospect of a section called "how to do things with words" strikes like a fork on a frying pan. Chapter two, "The cracked kettle," deals with Wilson's language (problems ). Holmberg suggests that "like Wittgenstein's philosophy, all Wilson's theatre is a critique of language" (41). Oh-so-c1ever remarks like this aggrandize ; they do not illuminate. Holmberg establishes additional categories with Wilson's ten supposed strategies "to question language." Book Reviews The third chapter, "Alchemy of the eye," discusses Wilson's images without making the reader see. Holmberg confuses intellectualizing Wilson's images with describing them. Describing Wilson's actual work, of course, is more difficult. By the end of this chapter, Holmberg's own language and taste lapse. He writes: "Some souls need electroshock. Wilson administers it. The Wilsonian voyage, epic in scope, like Baudelaire takes the wanderer to the bottom of the unknown, to find something new." (117). Making matters worse, the next paragraph lobs the word "Wilsonland" without ironic awareness . Holmberg calls the next chapter, "The deep surface." Here, he tosses off a phrase that could serve as the book's title. This chapter glides over Wilson's use of light, furniture - not props - and movement. Holmberg intersperses numerous dramaturg anecdotes from his personal Wilson experiences and interviews at the American repertory Theatre. Odd interpretations ensue. In "The dream work," Holmberg forces scenes from Wilson's The Forest, When We Dead Awaken and King Lear, among other productions, into a dream scheme. This transports readers back to "Wilsonland" where Holmberg evidently feels free to free associate. Without evidence and support, Holmberg dreamily concludes the chapter: "Wilson's world is magic, but social revolt and metaphysical anguish tinge that magic" (181). One represses the urge to shout, "Wake up!" The book's final two chapters, "The valley of the shadow: trauma and transcendence " and "An eye with a mind of its own: the revolution continues," dabble in psychology and...