THE OLD WOMAN

Master of avant-garde theater, Robert Wilson (Opera from three money 2008; Happy Days 2009; Krapp's Last Tape 2009; Shakespeare's Sonnets 2010; Lulu 2012) returns to Spoleto with his latest play, The old woman. Created in collaboration with, and starring legendary dancer and actor Mikhail Baryshnikov, and world-renowned actor, Willem Dafoe, The old woman is an adaptation of the work of the same name by Russian writer, Kharms Daniil.

Born to St. Petersburg in 1905, Kharms was persecuted by the Stalinist regime for most of his life, and was finally arrested, imprisoned and killed at the age of 36 by Soviet soldiers in the gulags. The biographical brevity in Kharms finds a parallel in the brevity of his writings of the absurd, some of which are little more than a paragraph long. The one exception is The Old Woman, a dark, brilliant and ingeniously political novella written in the 1930s.

With references to Beckett and Ionesco in its impassive narrative, The old woman is arguably the masterpiece of one of Russia's greatest avant-garde authors, telling the story of a tormented writer who cannot to find peace with himself.

An old woman is standing in the courtyard holding a clock from wall. Passing the old woman, I stop and ask her, 'What at are they?'

'See for yourself,' retorts the old woman.

Then I look and see that the clock has no hands.

'There are no hands,' I say.

The old woman looks at the clock face and says, 'It's a quarter to three.'

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ROBERT WILSON

The New York Times called Robert Wilson "a cornerstone of world experimental theater." Wilson, born to Waco - Texas in 1941, is one of the world's leading visual and theatrical artists. His work uses a variety of artistic techniques masterfully integrating movement, dance, painting, light, design, sculpture, music and dramaturgy. His performances are of the highest aesthetic intensity and emotional power and have earned him the acclaim of audiences and critics worldwide. He has received numerous awards and honors, including nomination for the Pulitzer Prize (1986), two Guggenheim Fellowship awards (1971, 1980), the Golden Lion for Sculpture at the Venice Biennale (1993), the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Lifetime Achievement Award (1996), and the Taormina Arte Europe Prize (1997). He was appointed to the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2000) and Commandeur des arts et des lettres (2002). With Einstein on the Beach, written with Philip Glass in 1976, he changed the conventional conception ofopera as an artistic form. Shows such as Deafman Glance, KA MOUNTain and GUARDenia Terrace, Life and Times of Sigmund Freud, CIVIL warS, Death, Destruction & Detroit and to Letter for Queen Victoria have contributed to redefining contemporary theater. Numerous collaborations with authors and artists such as Susan Sontag, Lou Reed, Heiner Müller, Jessye Norman, David Byrne, Tom Waits and Rufus Wainwright. Wilson has also sealed masterpieces such as The Magic Flute, the Wagnerian cycle, Madama Butterfly, Dreamplay, Peer Gynt, Opera from three-money, and Krapp's Last Tape with his unmistakable style.

MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV

Mikhail Baryshnikov, born to Riga, Latvia, in 1948, began to studying dance at the age of nine. from teenager he moved to Leningrad, where he entered the Vaganova School of Choreography, passing from student to étoile of the Kirov Ballet in 1969. In 1974, he left the Soviet Union to dance in major companies around the world, including the New York City Ballet, where he worked with George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. In 1980 and for the next ten years he was artistic director of the American Ballet Theatre, which raised in its ranks a new generation of dancers and choreographers.

From 1990 to 2002, Baryshnikov was director and dancer of the White Oak Dance Project, which he co-founded with choreographer Mark Morris. White Oak grew out of Baryshnikov's desire "to be a driving force in the production of art," and helped expand the repertoire and visibility of American modern dance. In 2005 he opened the Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC), a creative space for local and international artists to develop and present their work. Located in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood to Manhattan, BAC includes four rehearsal rooms, a 150-seat from room, and the 238-seat Jerome Robbins Theater. Through its residency program, BAC provides space and a way for both young and established artists to imagine and create without commercial pressure. BAC also presents audiences with contemporary and innovative creations by artists from the worlds of dance, theater, music, and film to a reduced cost or even for free. Under his leadership as artistic director, BAC's programs cover about 500 artists and more than 20,000 audiences each year. Among the many awards given to Baryshnikov are the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Honor, the Commonwealth Award, the Chubb Fellowship, the Jerome Robbins Award, and the 2012 Vilcek Award. In 2010 he was awarded the rank of Officer of the French Legion of Honor. His dancing career has been complemented by his acting career, to Broadway has starred in Metamorphosis (Tony Award nomination and Drama Desk Award winner), among others; in film Two Lives and a Turning Point (for which he received an Academy Award nomination) and The Sun to midnight; and he has taken part to in numerous television productions. to Spoleto presented in 2012 the play In Paris.

WILLEM DAFOE

Willem Dafoe is an American film and theater actor, one of the founders of the experimental theater company "The Wooster Group," whose shows he created and starred in from 1977 to 2003. He returns to collaborating with Wilson after the recent The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic. He has played roles in a wide range of films, including The Hunter, Antichrist, 444: Last Day on Earth, The Aquatic Adventures of Steve Zissou, Miral, A Woman, The Dust of Time, Go Go Tales, Daybreakers - The Last Vampire, Inside Man, American Psycho, Wild Heart, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Auto Focus, Tom & Viv, Streets of Fire, Living and Dying to Los Angeles, Born on the Fourth of July, The English Patient, The Last Temptation of Christ, Mississippi Burning, The Boondock Saints-Final Justice, Spider-Man, The Loveless, eXistenZ, Under the Sign of Peril, The Drug Dealer, and The Aviator, as well as lending his voice in some animated films Fantastic Mr. Fox and Finding Nemo. Dafoe has twice been nominated for Academy Awards: for Platoon and The Shadow of the Vampire.

Willem Dafoe also collaborated with Robert Wilson on his Video Portraits series.

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