Einstein on the Beach is an opera written by the minimalist composer Philip Glass and theatre director and designer Robert Wilson. It premiered in 1976 in Avignon, France. It is a single act opera, approximately five hours long with no intermission. Given the minimalist (repetitive) nature of the music, audience members are free to enter and leave the opera as they wish.
The text of the opera consists of solfege syllables, numbers, and short segments of poetry. The opera consists of twenty-minute-long scenes separated by what Glass calls knee plays.
