Robert Wilson . Mikhail Baryshnikov . Willem Dafoe

Following the overwhelming success of Robert Wilson's 'The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic' in June 2012, this world-famous American theatre-maker is set to return to deSingel. You will recognise his unique style in a series of stylised poetic images constructed using dream figures, extremely precise movements and a thousand and one shades of light. In his theatre of the imagination, there is no room for either naturalism or psychologising. With slowed-down, artificial movements and poses, his actors often play grotesque characters, full of comic effects and humorous references. Along with the dancer and performer Mikhail Baryshnikov and the theatre and film actor Willem Dafoe, Robert Wilson this time draws his inspiration from the short story 'The Old Woman' by Daniil Charms. Born in St-Petersburg in 1905, this Russian avant-garde writer was caught up in Stalin's reign of terror. He was arrested and incarcerated. Many of his writings consist of mere fragments. His storytelling style contains echoes of Kafka, Beckett and Ionesco. 'The Old Woman', Charms' best-known piece, tells the story of a writer who is unable to make peace with himself. He wrote this brilliant, obscure and covertly political novella in 1939, not long before dying of starvation in the gulag.