Robert Wilson (1962 - 2025)
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Robert Wilson, a driving force for decades in the Off-Loop avant garde movement, died in early October. He was a founding member of WNEP Theatre, the long-running Soiree Dada and a veteran of close to 20 productions at Trap Door Theatre.
“He was funny and fearless, generous and exacting, bringing to life absurdity, melancholy and joy in all he did. May his memory remind us to keep supporting each other,” said Trap Door Managing Director Nicole Weisner. Wilson was born in Jamestown, New York. After earning a B.A. in cinema from SUNY Binghamton, he went to Chicago where he quickly developed creative partnerships that would last for decades. Among his earliest collaborators was Joe Janes, who founded WNEP Theatre with Wilson. Janes recalled they shared a love of the absurd and the surreal, especially the often intentionally baffling Dadaism. Together, Roberts and Janes founded Soiree Dada, a weekly multi-disciplinary magazine of Dadaist performances. Trap Door Resident Director Kate Hendrickson recalled Wilson’s contributions to a 1994 WNEP production she directed. “He said his name in the show would be Johnny Niagra, but here’s the thing. He wasn’t in the show. He was running the light and sound boards,” she shared. “He insisted on having a character name and a costume. He had a way of quietly agreeing to go along with the group yet still making sure he was heard.” On Facebook, Jason Pitts remembered Wilson’s vivid stage presence as Renfield, lackey to Count Dracula, in a WNEP rooftop production that spanned several actual rooftops: “Bob was 1,000 percent Renfield. He was also a brave and strong actor enthusiastically running from roof to roof, being chased and making theatre happen, in a space where there was no theatre.” Trap Door’s founder and Artistic Director Beata Pilch first saw Wilson perform in the mid-1990s, and he soon became an ensemble member. He travelled with the company on its European tours, through Poland, Romania, Scotland and Hungary, among others. At the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, he climbed up the extinct volcano called Arthur’s Rock, twice, once alone and once with the whole company, Hendrickson remembered. “It showed his commitment to his own individuality and the ensemble.” With thanks to CBS and Trap Door Theater. |