Stage Director

Dramaturge

Myth, magic, music, movement, and mesmerizing imagery combine in revered South African visual artist William Kentridge’s newest production.
Presented in two parts, SIBYL is inspired by the Greek myth of the Cumaean Sibyl, and wrestles with the human desire to know our future, and our helplessness before powers and technologies that obscure that knowledge from us. The chamber opera Waiting for the Sibyl features nine vocalists and dancers interacting with Kentridge’s distinctive stage design, which energizes the action of the performers with hand-painted sets, animated ink drawings, swirling projected text, collage, and shadow play.
Kentridge has taken the opera world by storm in recent years with his strikingly original productions of works by Berg, Mozart, and Shostakovich, which have graced such illustrious stages as the Metropolitan Opera, the English National Opera, the Théâtre National de l’Opéra (Paris), the Staatsoper (Berlin), and the Sydney Opera House, among many others.

EPSG:4326

William Kentridge's SIBYL

University of California, Berkeley

Based on actual events, The Great Yes, The Great No takes place aboard an ocean liner bound for Martinique from Vichy France and carrying a who’s who of mid-20th century thinkers. South African artist William Kentridge adds a layer of fiction to his retelling of this wartime voyage. To create a meaningful group portrait, Kentridge has augmented the ship’s manifest of real passengers (French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, Cuban artist Wifredo Lam, et al.) with several other famous figures (among them Martinican philosopher Frantz Fanon and French entertainer Josephine Baker). The ship’s captain is none other than Charon, mythical ferryman of the River Styx.

William Kentridge

Stage Director, Dramaturge

Events

Upcoming events

5 - 7 Dec, 2024

The Great Yes, The Great No · Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts

Past events

17 - 19 Mar, 2023

William Kentridge's SIBYL · Cal Performances

About

William Kentridge hasn't added a bio