ABSTRACT
The ‘trance’ sureness of step and gait is, for Wilson, an integral part of timing, which is why he asks actors to count as they move in his workshops. Despite the touch of ‘Orientalism’ in Robert Wilson’s discussion of Eastern performance – and aspects of his theatre echo the East–West ‘intercultural’ paradigm of the 1980s and 1990s – Wilson is not in the least interested in exoticism or appropriation. Ann-Christin Rommen, who has been Wilson’s directing assistant since the Cologne section of the CIVIL wars, is a permanent member of his team, and is sometimes billed as his co-director. The essential point is that Wilson’s collaborative work involves selection from a pool of co-workers according to project. The ‘moment’, which usually runs on from the second actor workshop, is the actual production and rehearsal time, and lasts from three to five or six weeks, depending on the contractual agreement between Wilson and the hosting theatre.
