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.
Stay tuned for details about the Haptic Tour.
Access Services Provider Contact: Guillermo Cornejo, gcornejo@calperformances.org, 510-642-9988

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.

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