Visualization of non-stage music by example “Adam’s Passion” by Arvo Part

Abstract

The article is in line with issues related to the visualization of non-stage music. The author focuses on the play “Adam’s passion” to the music of Arvo Pärt, staged in Tallinn in 2015 and dedicated to the composer’s 80th birthday. His idea was born in close creative collaboration with the American director Robert Wilson, whose productions from the late 1960s began to have a significant influence on the formation of the image of modern theater, attracting the attention of audiences around the world. He developed an individual and original style of his directorial vision, which is characteristic of all his theatrical works. This is determined by a special way of using light, relying on structures of simple movement and plasticity, classical rigor and laconicism of stage design. The article pays special attention to the personality of Robert Wilson and the study of the phenomena of visual and post-dramatic theater, in line with which theater scholars study his directorial style. It is emphasized that the production of “Adam’s passion” is a striking example of not only the visualization of a musical text not intended for stage execution, but also demonstrates the features of director Robert Wilson’s theater.