To me, what is important in the theater is that we don't want to make a conclusion. We don't want to make a statement, don't want to say what something is. We want to ask, 'What is it?'
Interpretation
Theater should provoke questions rather than provide answers or conclusions.
Robert Wilson emphasizes that the essence of theater lies in the exploration of questions rather than delivering definitive statements or conclusions. He advocates for a form of artistic expression that encourages the audience to engage with the unknown and consider various interpretations, essentially promoting a reflective and questioning approach to art.
In practice
This quote could be used in a theater workshop to encourage actors to focus on the depth of their characters.
Usually in theater, the visual repeats the verbal. The visual dwindles into decoration. But I think with my eyes. For me, the visual is not an afterthought, not an illustration of the text. If it says the same thing as the words, why look? The visual must be so compelling that a deaf man would sit though the performance fascinated.
I never studied theatre; I learned it by doing it. If I had studied theatre, I would not be making the kind of theatre I am making.
Pertaining to a certain order of architecture, otherwise known as Normal American. Most of the public buildings of the United States are of the Ramshackle order, though some of our earlier architects preferred the Ironic. Recent additions to the White House in Washington are Theo-Doric, the ecclesiastic order of the Dorians. They are exceedingly fine and cost one hundred dollars a brick.
Before I studied the art, a punch to me was just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick no longer a kick. Now that I've understood the art, a punch is just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. The height of cultivation is really nothing special. It is merely simplicity; the ability to express the utmost with the minimum.
My art springs from my desire to have things in the world which would otherwise never be there.
Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.
And, I mean, I think poetry does need to be met to some extent, especially, I guess, 19th century poetry, and for me, it's just been so worth the effort. It's like I'm planting a garden in my head.
100 years of Indian cinema has happened. Anything you do, feels like it has already been done. The struggle is to find a new and unique idea.
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