“The French, not the Americans, commissioned 'Einstein on the Beach.'”

American experimental theater director and playwright

Robert Wilson was an American experimental theater director and playwright. He worked across several disciplines, including choreography, performance, painting, sculpture, video art, and sound and lighting design. He is best known for Einstein on the Beach, created with Philip Glass and Lucinda Childs, and for his frequent collaborations with Tom Waits. In 1991, he founded The Watermill Center on Long Island, New York, as a place for performance work, and he continued to work with opera and theater companies and with cultural festivals.