Back to All Events

The Great Yes, The Great No (Presented by William Kentridge and CAL Performances)

  • Zellerbach Hall Bancroft Way at Dana Street, UC Berkeley campus Berkeley, CA 97720 United States (map)

Performers stand on stage with human masks while an unmasked performer looks on.

Internationally acclaimed for his visual art and theater productions, South African artist William Kentridge returns to UC Berkeley with his latest creation for the stage, a chamber opera set on a 1941 sea voyage from Marseille to Martinique. Conceived in collaboration with theater maker Phala Ookeditse Phala and choral conductor and dancer Nhlanhla Mahlangu, The Great Yes, The Great No fictionalizes the historic wartime escape from Vichy France by, among others, the surrealist André Breton, the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, and the Cuban artist Wifredo Lam—and imaginatively adds a distinguished and colorful cast of characters to the passenger list, like Aimé Césaire, Josephine Baker, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin.

This is an ADA-accessible venue.

Audio Description provided by Gravity Access Services.
Haptic tour begins at 2:15, audio described performance begins at 3:00.
Reserve your headsets and space on the tour by contacting the Cal Performances Ticket Office at (510) 642-9988 or 
tickets@calperformances.org.
Additional information about services available for patrons with disabilities can be found at
 calperformances.org/accessibility.

Tickets: $48–$120 (prices subject to change)
UC Berkeley students can access exclusive discounts, including half-price tickets in all sections of the theater. Learn more about student discounts and other discounts.

Click here for more information.