Robert Lepage
Just a few days prior to the 2009 premiere of the Image Mill, I had the privilege of sitting down with its “father”, Mr. Robert Lepage. Though the term “genius” is often used, and misused, it seems to be an apt description and yet, while closely examining his body of work, the word also seems to be an understatement.
His inspiration
Mr. Lepage partly credits his love of the stage for inspiring him to go out of the traditional stage bounds through the use of lighting and visual effects. As was the case with the Image Mill, he enjoyed a great deal of creative multimedia freedom. “We can play with sound, lights and images” explains Mr. Lepage. “We don’t have to use a rigid cinematic language as we know and see it in a movie theatre.” For the Image Mill, he simply used his boundless imagination and let it run free.
On his move from the stage to the (very) large screen…
''The idea of moving from the stage to movies was quite simple: The language is completely different. On stage, there is the language, the story and the actors. There are many more possibilities with the Image Mill. There’s the history of the city, which has touched us all in one way or another. Actors are replaced with pictures. One particular picture may remind you of a moment in your life, a funny anecdote. The Image Mill can provide you with far more possibilities than a stage”.
On his work with Peter Gabriel
In the early 1990’s, on the advice of a friend, singer Peter Gabriel attended a Robert Lepage play presented in London. That event occurred on December 12th, which coincided with Mr. Lepage’s birthday. The former Genesis frontman was so taken by the play that he quickly arranged a meeting with the actor/director to discuss a joint creative venture for his new tour. An artistic bond quickly formed between the two.
The life and times of Robert Lepage
Multidisciplinary artist, stage and movie director as well as actor, Robert Lepage has repeatedly been lauded by international critics. He has created, directed and starred in several original plays that have shattered the traditional standards through the use of new technology.
Born in Québec on December 12th, 1957, he quickly found an interest in geography and even dreamt of teaching it.
At the age of 17, he is accepted to the Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Québec, which he follows with an apprenticeship in Paris under acclaimed stage and movie director Alain Knapp. Upon his return in 1978, he takes part in different creations which he writes, acts and directs.
In 1984, his play Circulations toured Canada and received Best Canadian Production award at the Quinzaine Internationale de Théâtre de Québec. In 1985, he created The Dragon's Trilogy, a three-sided story featuring three Canadian Chinatowns during three very different eras. This play quickly gained international acclaim.
Soon thereafter, he created Vinci (1986), Le Polygraphe (1987-1990) and Les Plaques Tectoniques (1988-1990).
From 1989 to 1993, he worked as artistic director at the French Theatre at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. From a creative standpoint, he penned and presented Les Aiguilles et l’Opium (1991-1996), Coriolan, Macbeth, The Tempest (1992-1994) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1992). It is thanks to this timeless classic that he became the first North American to ever direct a Shakespeare play at London’s famed Royal National Theatre.
In 1994, Le Projet Ex Machina, his first multidisciplinary company, came to life in Québec. Several plays will be presented afterwards, including The Seven Streams of the River Ota (1994), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1995) and Elseneur, a solo show (1995-1997).
Three years later, also in Québec, the production center La Caserne Dalhousie was created. In this new “home”, he presented Geometry of Miracles (1998), Zulu Time (1999), The Far Side of The Moon (2000), La Casa Azul (2001) and The Bunkre’s Opera (2004). A new version of La Trilogie des Dragons returned in 2003 along with new actors. In 2005, the 1984 opera, based on George Orwell’s novel was presented, featuring Maestro Lorin Maazel as musical director. This was followed by The Rake’s Progress, which premiered at Brussels’ Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie à Bruxelles in April 2007 and Le Dragon Bleu, created by Ex-Machina, in 2008.
In 1992, he successfully achieved a feat by directing two operas, Bluebeard's Castle and Erwartung, during the same program en 1992. The following year, in 1993, he created and directed the stage show of Peter Gabriel’s Secret World Tour. This tour lasted 18 months and allowed the masses to see Robert Lepage’s visionary style of theatre.
In Japan in 1999, then in Paris in 2001, 2004 and again in 2006, he directed The Damnation of Faust. In 2000, he was involved in producing the Métissages exhibit, presented at Québec’s Musée de la civilisation. In 2002, he again joined forces with Peter Gabriel to create the new stage show for the Growing Up Tour.
He later designed and directed KÀ, a permanent Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas, which premiered in February, 2005.
In addition to acting in most of his plays, Robert Lepage also appears in some of his movies, such as Nô, Possible Worlds and the movie adaptation of The Far Side of Moon. He also had important parts in two of Denys Arcand’s movies, Jésus de Montréal (1989) and Stardom (2001). He also made a cameo appearance in Ding et Dong: le film (1990), Montréal vu par... (1991) and L’Audition (2005). Most recently, he was seen in Catherine Martin’s movie, Dans les villes. He was also seen in the second volume of the revisited Mars et Avril photo novella, for which he penned the foreword and where he played the part of cosmologist Eugène Spaak.
In 2005, Robert Lepage founded his own movie production company, Films Ex aequo. This company is based in his hometown.
His most recent solo presentation, The Andersen Project, based on the life of Hans Christian Andersen, is currently showing throughout the world. He is currently working on a new play called Lipsynch as well as a new opera. Robert Lepage is also working on a new production of Richard Wagner’s The Nibelung Ring (Der Ring des Nibelungen) for New York’s Metropolitan Opera. This new production will be shown in 2010.
In early 2007, he was honored with the Europe Award, which he co-won with German director Peter Zadek. This award is the most prestigious honor that can be bestowed in the field of theatre. However, Zadek failed to appear to the awards ceremony and Lepage ended up entirely receiving the coveted prize.
In October 2007, at the request of Ex Machina, Patrick Caux and Bernard Gilbert published a book, Ex Machina. Chantiers d'écriture scénique (Éditions du Septentrion - L'Instant Même) detailing the creation and the road travelled by the company.
In 2008, as part of Québec’s 400th anniversary celebrations, Robert Lepage created The Image Mill, a gigantic audio visual fresco that tells the city’s history since is founding in 1608.
For nearly three years, Robert Lepage and his team created this masterpiece of images and sound. The challenge was technically daunting, since 27 video projectors, 238 lighting machines, 329 speakers and 25 kilometres (16 miles) of fibre optics were needed to bring a 600-meter long, 30 meter high blank canvas to life.
Over 600,000 people have attended the presentation during the summer of 2008. At the same time, The Image Mill was acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest outdoor projection ever created.
Texte : Nadine Brillant
