The Martin E. Segal Theater Center presents
Einstein on the Beach: The Changing Image of Opera
Mark Obenhaus
At the Segal Theatre Film and Performance Festival 2026
Screening Information
This film will be screened on May 29 at 6:45 PM, and June 4 at 9:00 PM, at Anthology Film Archives
Country
United States
Language
English
Running Time
58
minutes
Year of Release
1984
About The Film
Einstein on the Beach: The Changing Image of Opera is a documentary record of the landmark 1984 revival of Robert Wilson and Philip Glass's groundbreaking opera Einstein on the Beach, staged at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. It was the first time since the original 1976 production — which premiered at the Avignon Festival and played the Metropolitan Opera — that the two principal creators had reunited to restage this tradition-breaking work.
Director Mark Obenhaus provides intimate access to both artists: Glass discusses the opera's radical musical structure, its rejection of conventional narrative arc, and the challenge of hearing music that transforms continuously rather than repeating in recognizable patterns. Wilson reflects on his visual approach to the production, his use of light and geometric form, and the relationship between duration, stillness, and theatrical time.
The film weaves these interviews with footage from rehearsals and the actual performances, giving viewers a rare window into the preparation of a work that had already reshaped the landscape of contemporary opera and performance. Considered an essential document for anyone interested in the evolution of the performing arts in the 20th century, the film makes the case — through the evidence of the work itself — for why Einstein on the Beach remains one of the defining achievements of American avant-garde culture.
Director: Mark Obenhaus
Producer: Chris Ann Verges
Original Music: Philip Glass
About The Artist(s)
Mark Obenhaus is a leading producer, director, and writer of documentary film and television. His work spans more than four decades and has been recognized with five national Emmy Awards, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, two Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards, the Writers Guild of America Award, the British Press Guild Documentary Award, and numerous other honors.
Obenhaus began his career producing cinema vérité documentaries and working with director Bob Fosse on commercial projects. He went on to produce six programs for the PBS series Frontline, two of which — Abortion Clinic and Living Below the Line — won Emmy Awards. For PBS Great Performances he produced and directed two celebrated music documentaries: Miles Ahead: The Music of Miles Davis and Einstein on the Beach: The Changing Image of Opera. For The American Experience he produced and directed The World That Moses Built and Mr. Sears Catalog.
From 1991 onward Obenhaus held a long association with ABC News, serving as senior producer of Day One and going on to produce major specials including Dangerous World: The Kennedy Years, The Kennedy Assassination: Beyond Conspiracy (a co-production with the BBC), and UFOs: Seeing Is Believing with Peter Jennings. He also served as senior producer of the landmark twelve-hour series The Century with Peter Jennings.
His feature documentary Steep, about extreme mountain skiing, premiered at the Tribeca and Telluride Film Festivals and was released theatrically by Sony Pictures Classics. His most recent film, Cover-Up (2025), co-directed with Laura Poitras and examining investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, won the Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary at the Hamptons International Film Festival and received a Directors Guild of America nomination.
Get in touch with the artist(s)