Conceived and directed by acclaimed South African artist William Kentridge (
The Head & the Load), this multimedia show finds a host of real-life artists and intellectuals (André Breton, Suzanne Cesaire, Frantz Fanon, et al.) sailing to Martinique from Vichy France on a ship captained by Charon, the ferryman of the Underworld. The show adds a layer of fiction to history, and is part play, part oratorio and part chamber opera.
Kentridge’s breathtaking visual inventiveness combines actors, dancers, projections, masks and shadow play. Told in multiple languages, The Great Yes, The Great No captures the poetic and the revolutionary as it gestures towards a freer future.
