The Space Behind the Face: Life Stories

Celebrating the arrival of The Space Behind the Face: Life Stories, the long-awaited memoir by the late, much-lauded theater and visual artist Robert Wilson, BAM welcomes actor and writer Keith McDermott, who helped Wilson complete the manuscript before he died in July 2025, for an evening of  illuminating conversation with a group of Wilson’s associates and creative collaborators. Part intimate remembrance, part cultural history, part road map for living an artistic life, The Space Behind the Face is a vital text for anyone who believes in the boundless value of creativity—and a stunningly beautiful memorial to an inimitable artist.

Joining McDermott for this special occasion are novelist and playwright Darryl Pinckney; musical sister act CocoRosie; actress and singer Maria Bacardi; artist Christopher Knowles, whose poetry was used in Einstein on the Beach; and multidisciplinary artist Sheryl Sutton, featured in Wilson projects including Einstein on the Beach and Deafman Glance.

Born in Waco, Texas, Robert Wilson was among the world’s foremost theater and visual artists, renowned worldwide for his poetically deliberate use of time, space, and light. His longstanding relationship with BAM commenced with The Life and Times of Sigmund Freud (1970), and included visionary collaborations with such disparate artists as Philip Glass, David Byrne, Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan, Lou Reed, and Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon. His audacious stage production of Moby Dick, created with British singer-songwriter Anna Calvi for Germany’s Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, received its triumphant US premiere at BAM in April 2026.

All books purchased at this event will be marked with a special Robert Wilson stamp.