THEATER Bram Goldsmith Theater
THE WALLIS PRESENTS
WILLIAM KENTRIDGE'S
THE GREAT YES, THE GREAT NO
CONCEIVED & DIRECTED BY William Kentridge
WITH Phala O. Phala & Nhlanhla Mahlangu
Feb 5, 2025 - Feb 8, 2025
Marseille, 1941: A liner sails for Martinique with artists and intellectuals on board fleeing from Vichy France, including surrealist André Breton, anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, Cuban painter Wifredo Lam, Communist novelist Victor Serge and exiled German author Anna Seghers.
Conceived in collaboration with award-winning theater maker Phala Ookeditse Phala, and choral conductor and dancer Nhlanhla Mahlangu, The Great Yes, The Great No is part play, part Greek choir, part chamber opera - all interwoven with William Kentridge’s breathtaking surrealist visuals.
The journey 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.
RUNNING TIME: 84 minutes, no intermission.
CREATIVES
ARTISTS
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)
This production is made possible by generous support from
Brenda R. Potter
Sakurako and William Fisher Family