Talk:The Black Rider

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[edit] The November Theatre production

I saw the November Theatre production in Vancouver in 2005. One thing that was absolutely clear was that Robert Wilson's influence was entirely absent, both in the design and the direction. In other words November Theatre's claim that its production was of a work co-created by Robert Wilson is completely false. Strangely enough (as I discovered later that night when I turned disconsolately to the internet to make sense of what I had just seen) the authentic production, under Wilson's direction, was touring Australia at the very same time I was stuck in the Arts Club Theatre watching the disembowelled version.

The article at the moment talks of November Theatre's "world English" and "American English" premieres, as if the distinction is important. Who cares? This sounds very much like a vanity paragraph to me. In fact the wording is a paraphrase of the program notes from one year's Magnetic North festival (the page has been deleted, but it still shows up in google at the moment). Robert Wilson is a truly eminent figure, as is Tom Waits and as was William Burroughs. The November Theatre production got a handful of good reviews in some free newspapers in western Canada, but that's about it. I don't believe they are important enough to be worth more than a very brief mention here.

I also think, both because November Theatre is not important enough, and because their production does not remotely resemble the piece as designed and directed by Robert Wilson (in spite of the claim, that the image of November Theatre's program is an inappropriate and misleading one to have on this page. It would be better to have no picture at all.

If anyone disagrees with me on either of these points then please say so. Otherwise I will relegate November Theatre's production to a single short sentence. Ireneshusband 07:10, 30 November 2006 (UTC)