Can there be theatre without actors? Absolutely, according to Robert Wilson, the American director-designer-performer whose mixed-media productions challenge traditional boundaries between theatre, opera, dance, film and the plastic arts, and are performed to critical acclaim all over Europe.
Over the weekend the Saratoga International Theater Institute presented its one-and-a-half-hour homage to Wilson, in the form of a one-man show, (Bob, Samuel Beckett Centre, TCD) based on Wilson's collected thoughts on theatre, art and life in general - "I hate therapy. I don't want to change the world" - performed by Will Bond, directed by Anne Bogart and scripted by theatre critic, Jocelyn Clarke.
This could have been a very arid exercise in meta-theatre - a self-reflexive show about a theatre director talking about theatre direction - but the orchestration of light, sound and simple props, the images created through poses struck and shadows cast on the white backdrop by banks of studio lights and the control and assurance of Bond's performance held the attention, for the most part. In its emphasis on the architectural arrangement of light and form on the white-on-black squares dividing the stage, and the creation of visual structures in space, the production was faithfully Wilsonesque.
For those of an abstract turn of mind, there was plenty to feed the intellect; despite Wilson's frequently expressed resistance to interpretation and insistence on the primacy of experience over analysis, this remained a very cerebral, allusive exercise, replete with ironies for anyone familiar with Wilson's work, but less engaging for a more general audience.
Because it was presented with all the reverence due to the pensees of a theatre guru, we inevitably listened attentively to the text, hoping for illumination, despite the fact that Wilson has always tried to demystify the primacy of language in theatre. "Words only confuse people about my work," Bond says at one point, "it's best to remain silent." And the wordless moments were by far the richest: where he danced and ran across the diagonal axis, to the crescendo of the soundtrack: the drama of the human body expressing itself in time and space - as Wilson might say himself.
Physical versatility was showcased in another one-man show, Yet I Rise, which ran for only two nights at Temple Bar Gallery. Christopher Simpson's range of gesture and expression and fluidity of movement were superb.
With grace and humour this young half-Irish, half-Rwandan actor performed an account of the Greek orator, Demosthenes, who famously overcame a chronic stammer by forcing pebbles into his mouth, and attempted to rally the Athenians in resistance to the onslaught of Philip of Macedon.
The second monologue was performed in a rap style, shifting from tenderness to ferocity as he recounts the joys of marriage and birth, mainly in the language of Rwanda, Kinyarwanda, with English interspersed. While his chosen material was not the most accessible or compelling, there is no doubt whatsoever about the talent of this performer, who we can expect to pop up at next year's Fringe - or maybe sooner.
The Fringe Information Office is in Arthouse, Curved Street, Temple Bar. The Fringe phone number is: 01-605 6833 and information is available on these websites: www.fringefest.com and www.dkm.ie/events
