Robert Wilson, RIP

Scene from The Temptation of St. Anthony

The recently deceased American stage director, designer, and architect Robert Wilson (1941–2025) was famous for monumental, hypnotizing stage designs and a drastic reduction in gesture and action. Although far away from Catholic monasticism in his own daily life, his style had something "Cistercian" about it, and his interests consistently returned to the narrative forms of parable or folk tale. Howard Fishman noted that spiritual matters form the core of Wilson's work (1). 
The Temptation of St. Anthony, staged in 2003, was a treatment of Flaubert's 1874 novel. Wilson and Bernice Johnson Reagon, a founder and codirector of Sweet Honey in the Rock, joined forces to portray temptation and ascetic self-control in the life of the famous fourth-century hermit saint who is considerd "desert father" of Christian monasticism. 
Wilson's production explored the themes of faith, temptation, and perseverance in ascetic life. Also: must monastics live in isolation or should their Christian charity compel them to serve others?
The result is a more joyous production than one might have expected: "it's all about hope," said one performer.  Another religious aspect of Wilson's work is his extensive work with amateur performers. He founded “The Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds,” a loosely-organized group of volunteers and amateur performers who worked with him for nearly a decade. Catholic performance culture is almost always reliant on amateur performers. 
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(1) Quote is from: Howard Fishman, "Editor's Choice in Theater." BOMB 85 (Fall 2003) 21.