Word: avant
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...average Harvard theater-goer who hears the names Warner and Rauch constantly lumped together, that difference--a very definite one in style and approach--may not be apparent. Superficial similarities do abound. Both Rauch and Warner wince at words like "experimental" and "avant-garde," but one thing is undeniable: Nobody who goes to a production by either of them expects familiar renditions of old favorites, even when the posters promise Romeo and Juliet or Twelfth Night or even Cinderella. There are sure to be challenges--women playing men, men playing women, audience members sitting on stage, actors operating curtains...
Warner: I hate the word "experimental" Saying "avant-garde" is just a copout, either something works or it doesn...
...plot, if it may be called that, embraces history, from mythological Greece to the distant future, and has as its centerpiece the violent, haunting images of the American Civil War. For the mastermind of it all, Texas-born Robert Wilson, 42, it is the boldest venture yet in an avant-garde theatrical career that has specialized in audacity. It is the CIVIL warS: a tree is best measured when it is down, a multimillion-dollar "opera" that, when its segments are finally brought together, will last up to twelve hours...
...among others, profoundly influenced the course of modern theater. Also closely associated with Albee, Schneider won a 1962 Tony Award for directing Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Throughout his career, he resisted any single approach to theater, alternating between commercial and workshop projects, Broadway and regional stages, avant-garde and conventional plays. He once professed disappointment at not directing more classics, but then observed, "A number of the plays I directed when they were new have turned out to be classics. If one didn't get to do King Lear, Endgame, after all, comes close...
Similarly, when two bungling assassins bounce across the stage, or Cenci's partygoers do a ritual dance to the strains of avant-garde rock, the audience is happy to perceive the action on two levels. Those who understand exactly what Artaud meant by his elliptical dialogue appreciate the refined symbolism, while the rest of us can chuckle in relief along with the tongue-in-cheek directors...