© The Days Before DDDIII poster: Pedro Valiente I © Logo/Name: RW Ltd
THE DAYS BEFORE
DEATH DESTRUCTION DETROIT III
CONCEIVED, DESIGNED, DIRECTED BY ROBERT WILSON
THE DAYS BEFORE Death Destruction Detroit III (1999, US, 105min) by Robert Wilson with text by Umberto Eco and Music by Ryuichi Sakamoto, featuring Fiona Shaw, Isabella Rossellini et al.
NOVEL
“If the island rose in the past, it was the place he had to reach at all costs. In that unhinged time he was not to find but to invent the condition of the First Man. He would find that a new language could be born from a new contact with creation. The bay, alas, is too yesterday.” UMBERTO ECO The Island of the Day Before
SYNOPSIS
"The third work of a trilogy begun in 1979 in Berlin, with the second part created in 1987, this piece premiered in 1999 in New York City with a cast of almost 40 actors, dancers and singers from all over the world. Mr. Wilson has described the piece as being for him a sort of dreamscape that has as its themes apocalypse and redemption. Each of its twelve scenes tells its own story –the themes came from sources as diverse as the Bible, the tales of Edgar Allen Poe, a newspaper article about an old woman’s suicide, historical incidents. They are unified by Mr. Wilson’s staging and use of visual elements, by the text taken from Umberto Eco’s The Island of the Day Before, and by the music of Ryuichi Sakamoto. Additional text comes from a series of Tone Poems written and performed by Christopher Knowles. A simple, blond-wood stage reminiscent of the Noh theatre of Japan is transformed by the use of lights, video, painted drops and a host of objects flying in from above – an angel with the head of a deer, a little girl who wears the mask of a huge baby and rides on a comet, to name just a few." --CHANGE PERFORMING ARTS
SYNOPSIS
"The third work of a trilogy begun in 1979 in Berlin, with the second part created in 1987, this piece premiered in 1999 in New York City with a cast of almost 40 actors, dancers and singers from all over the world. Mr. Wilson has described the piece as being for him a sort of dreamscape that has as its themes apocalypse and redemption. Each of its twelve scenes tells its own story –the themes came from sources as diverse as the Bible, the tales of Edgar Allen Poe, a newspaper article about an old woman’s suicide, historical incidents. They are unified by Mr. Wilson’s staging and use of visual elements, by the text taken from Umberto Eco’s The Island of the Day Before, and by the music of Ryuichi Sakamoto. Additional text comes from a series of Tone Poems written and performed by Christopher Knowles. A simple, blond-wood stage reminiscent of the Noh theatre of Japan is transformed by the use of lights, video, painted drops and a host of objects flying in from above – an angel with the head of a deer, a little girl who wears the mask of a huge baby and rides on a comet, to name just a few." --CHANGE PERFORMING ARTS
CREW Conceived/designed/directed by Robert Wilson I Text: Umberto Eco (The Island of the Day Before), Christopher Knowles (Tone Poems) I Music: Ryuichi Sakamoto I Choreography: Suzushi Hanayagi I Costumes/makeup: Jacques Reynaud I Light: A.J. Weissbard I Set: Peter Botazzi I Sound: Peter Cerone I Video: Christopher Kondek I Props: Hans Thierman I Producer: Franco Laera I Producing director: Elizabetta di Mambro I Production stage manager: Sue Jane Stoker I Dramaturgy collaboration: Anna Merenyi, Susie Lim I Assistant directors: Koken Ergun, Urs Schonebaum I Furniture supervisor: Christian Prasser I Props master: Daniela Balsamo I Video design collaboration: Pedro Valiente
CAST Featuring Isabella Rossellini and Fiona Shaw, with Jeremy Geidt, Tony Randall, Semiha Berksoy, Dadon Dawadolma, Arthur Beatty, Elettra Botazzi, Francis Boue, Fritzi Haberlandt, Meg Harper, Makram Hamdan, Marianna Kavalieratos, Christopher Knowles, Restu Kusumaningrum, Keith McDermott, Brian Nishii, Fernando Nogueira, María Pessino, Arco Renz, Elizabetta Rosso, Inés Somellera, Carlos Soto, Tassy Thompson
TECH INFO Running time: 105min I Year: 1999 I Theater-dance I Country: US/Italy I A production by Change Performing Arts and Lincoln Center Festival I © 1999 RW Ltd.
© Robert Wilson: Robert Mapplethorpe I The Days Before DDDIII I Photo: Pedro Valiente
THE DAYS BEFORE BY ROBERT WILSON I VISUAL GALLERY
TEXTS I VISUALS I LINKS
VISUAL GALLERY
Synopsis, selected cast & crew I Production photos I Original sketches by Robert Wilson I Original artwork and letters by Robert Wilson to Pedro Valiente I Video design materials by Pedro Valiente I Materials from the Lincoln Center Festival, New York I The New York Press reviews, national & international press
LINKS
Work on/with Robert Wilson by Pedro Valiente: flyingfishwork.com/robertwilson I The Days Before DDDIII: flyingfishwork.com/robertwilson-thedaysbefore I Change Performing Arts: changeperformingarts.com/history/days.html4 I Robert Wilson: robertwilson.com
© The Days Before DDDIII by Robert Wilson I Photo: Pedro Valiente
THE DAYS BEFORE BY ROBERT WILSON I INTERNATIONAL TOUR
MODENA, ITALY PREVIEWS Teatro Comunale, June 1999 I NEW YORK, US PREMIERE Lincoln Center Festival, July 7-10, 1999 I MADRID, SPAIN Festival de Otoño, November 18-21, 1999 I PORTO, PORTUGAL Festival PO.N.T.I., December 3-4, 1999 I ISTANBUL, TURKEY 12th International Istanbul Theatre Festival, May 27-28, 2000 I SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, SPAIN Millennium Festival, August 12-14, 2000
THE DAYS BEFORE BY ROBERT WILSON I CREATIVE PROCESS
PREVIEWS AT TEATRO COMUNALE DI MODENA, ITALY I PHOTO: PV
THE DAYS BEFORE BY ROBERT WILSON I CREATIVE PROCESS
ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY ROBERT WILSON
THE DAYS BEFORE BY ROBERT WILSON I CREATIVE PROCESS
REHEARSALS AT THE WATERMILL CENTER, NYI PHOTO: PV/CREW
THE DAYS BEFORE BY ROBERT WILSON I CREATIVE PROCESS
THE WATERMILL CENTER, NY I VIDEO DESIGN WORK BY PEDRO VALIENTE
THE DAYS BEFORE BY ROBERT WILSON I CREATIVE PROCESS
VIDEO DESIGN WORK BY PEDRO VALIENTE
Pedro Valiente pafrticipated as performer in the first out of three Summer workshops to develop The Days Before DDDIII in The Watermill Center, New York.
(1) Book on RW (2) Video work for DDDIII rehearsal in Italy. (3) Pedro Valiente in a rehearsal with Dominique Sanda attended by Susan Sontag and Salman Rushdie at The Watermill Center. The Hamptons, New York. (4) Working materials for DDDIII from Change Perfoming Arts.
THE DAYS BEFORE BY ROBERT WILSON I SELECTED PRESS
PEDRO VALIENTE IN SPANISH PRESS
THE DAYS BEFORE BY ROBERT WILSON I SELECTED PRESS
THE NEW YORK TIMES I US & INTERNATIONAL PRESS
THE DAYS BEFORE BY ROBERT WILSON I LINCOLN CENTER FESTIVAL
NEW YORK STATE THEATER, LINCOLN CENTER, NY
THE DAYS BEFORE BY ROBERT WILSON I SELECTED LETTERS
TO PEDRO VALIENTE I ORIGINAL LETTERS BY ROBERT WILSON
EVERYTHING YOU CAN THINK OF IS TRUE BY ROBERT WILSON I ARTWORK
ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY ROBERT WILSON I 40/100 FOR PEDRO VALIENTE
© 1997-1999 RW Ltd. / Change Performing Arts I © 1997-1999 Photos: PV
