WHEN & WHERE:
Bram Goldsmith Theater at
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
The Great Yes, The Great No
conceived and directed by WILLIAM KENTRIDGE
with PHALA O. PHALA and NHLANHLA MAHLANGU
Five Performances February 5 -8, 2025
The Nimoy Theater at
CAP UCLA A Defense of the Less Good Idea
Performance-based lecture
by William Kentridge and Bronwyn Lace
Three short form works Mnquma,
Commission Continua and Umthandazo
Saturday, February 1, 2025 at 8 pm
Oculus Hall at The Broad
Co-presented and co-commissioned
by Lunder Institute of American Art and The Broad
Unsettled Voices Newly commissioned music,
visual, and spoken word performance
considering the meaning and importance of reconciliation
featuring Indigenous musical artists
Lynn Daphne Rudolph and Lazaro Arvizu, Jr.
Sunday, February 2, 2025 at 1 pm
TICKETS:
$15+
A spokesperson describes the event as follows:
"...The Great Yes, The Great No is part play, part Greek choir, part chamber opera – a journey that mixes history with fiction, augments reality, and invites other celebrated figures to join this new kind of ark, an allegory of all the forced expeditions of the past and present
The characters and themes of Yes/No are united by the symbolic power of the crossing, experienced in turn as uprooting, exile or reinvention— from Africa to the Caribbean, from the Caribbean to Europe, from war-torn Europe to a new elsewhere. It’s no coincidence that the captain’s name is Charon—the ferryman of the Underworld on the River Styx: this wartime transatlantic voyage takes characters and spectators into another world, governed by a deconstruction of signs and words. In addition to the writings and words of these famous thinkers and artists, which feed into the text of the play in fragments, Charon carries the path of Bertolt Brecht’s poetry..."
Cast:
PERFORMERS
Xolisile Bongwana, Hamilton Dhlamini, William Harding, Tony Miyambo, Nancy Nkusi, Luc de Wit
DANCERS
Thulani Chauke, Teresa Phuti Mojela
CHORUS
Anathi Conjwa, Asanda Hanabe, Zandile Hlatshwayo, Khokho Madlala, Nokuthula Magubane, Mapule Moloi, Nomathamsanqa Ngoma
MUSICIANS
Marika Hughes (Cello), Nathan Koci (Accordion | Banjo), Tlale Makhene (Percussion), Thandi Ntuli (Piano)
CREATIVES:
CONCEIVED & DIRECTED BY William Kentridge
ASSOCIATE DIRECTED BY Nhlanhla Mahlangu & Phala O. Phala
CHORAL COMPOSING BY Nhlanhla Mahlangu
MUSIC DIRECTION BY Tlale Makhene
DRAMATURG Mwenya Kabwe
COSTUME DESIGN BY Greta Goiris
SET DESIGN BY Sabine Theunissen
LIGHTING DESIGN BY Urs Schönebaum & Elena Gui
PROJECTION EDITING & COMPOSITING BY Žana Marović, Janus Fouché, & Joshua Trappler
CINEMATOGRAPHY BY Duško Marović
VIDEO CONTROL BY Kim Gunning
MUSICAL ARRANGEMENTS BY Nathan Koci
