Robert Wilson

I don't really know how one rates Mikhail Baryshnikov in a show about Vaslav Nijinsky directed by Robert Wilson. I don't think any of us are deserving to "rate" these legends. So I'll just say that the performance was very emotional, very introspected and very deep. Amazing music and lights. Baryshnikov is in crazy control of even the smallest movements, his interpretive dances are incredible. If you don't care about any of these people, it might not be something you'd be interested in.

A couple of years ago I watched Robert Wilson's " The Old Woman" with Baryshnikov and Willem Dafoe and enjoyed it. I have to admit that I enjoyed " Letter To A Man" even more. The stagecraft was superb, so artistic. But the highlight was Baryshnikov's dance, even though I understand that dance is not a main thing in this play and he danced very lightly. As a Baryshnikov fan for over 35 years it was such a delight to see him dance.

Robert Wilson through Baryshnikov successfully plunged the viewers into the world of Nijinsky where dissonance almost seems to make sense.

The last performance I saw from Mr. Wilson was Vojczek! It left for a decade a found memories and an amusement!! A letter to a man has its plus and minuses. One man show it can be a challenge. The perfection of this performance is absolutely artistically prepared & performed. Yet it feels distance and bordosom. I do appreciate the combination of the two masters in a theater on the stage - Wilson and Baryshnikov! It will be more memorable moment when the fact will settles in. I'm sorry I could not enjoy myself much more .

This show is so different, it really gets you thinking and has many elements from physical theater, mime, ....is really well done, Im happy I went to see this show and the actors are fenomenal in it!!!!

For Wilson, while he did manage to create some redeeming moments, this had the feeling of a failed experiment, where he reached a little too far, not quite sure what he was reaching for, and this time came back empty handed. He proved he was mortal. And that's ok. Without the willingness to have failed experiments we'd never have been the lucky recipients of his greater works. Dafoe and Baryshnikov were especially impressive given the difficulty of keeping the sometimes dull and no longer relevant material of early 20th century Russia interesting. Don't see this one. Wait for another.

I've admired Baryshnikov and Dafoe as performers for ages and have studied Beckett and absurdist theatre and Kafka and magic realism, and the blend here left quite an impression. That Baryshnikov produced and instigated the production of this play by a rather obscure Russian playwright, taken from his poems and short pieces, appeared quite evident from the beginning of the piece, with the dance-like quality of the actor movement and the intensely choreographed scenes. The thought-play of the characters and their inter-relatedness left me wondering if, as in some of Beckett's works, the characters represented the personalities of a single character, set against the stark backdrop of the mind.

This event won't be repeated, since it was a panel of the creators of "Einstein on the Beach" held in conjunction with the performance at LA Opera. Bits of previous conversations can be found on youtube. The comments were very helpful in responding to the opera. Robert Wilson is very eloquent, as always. The director of UCLA's Center for the Arts in Performance moderated and made some terrific and deeply thoughtful remarks.

content and process inseperable, enlightening...Motivated me to spend the Big Bucks and buy a ticket to Sunday's Final Performance...extra extraordinary