Forum on the Humanities and the Public World

Robert Lepage, playwright and director
“Performing Past and Present”

Wednesday, November 14, 2007
7pm  |  Museum Theater, Berkeley Art Museum,
2621 Durant Avenue, access via Sculpture Garden
Presented in association with Cal Performances and the Arts Research Center

One of Canada’s foremost artistic visionaries, Robert Lepage has established himself as an internationally acclaimed director of stage and film, as well as a designer, playwright and performer. His dynamic and original approach constantly pushes the boundaries of theatrical performance, incorporating elements of diverse and emerging artistic media and technologies. Drawing inspiration from contemporary life, he has influenced a generation of practitioners with work that engages controversial topics such as language, sexuality, and the act of creation itself. With award-winning productions ranging from Shakespeare to Cirque du Soleil, Lepage will be mounting a new interpretation of Stravinski’s The Rake’s Progress at the San Francisco Opera this fall, as well as his acclaimed The Andersen Project at Cal Performances this spring. The Townsend Center for the Humanities, in association with Cal Performances and the Arts Research Center, is pleased to present such a celebrated multidisciplinary artist in conversation with Professor Anthony J. Cascardi, offering a unique opportunity for audiences to hear Lepage’s reflections on performance, culture, and new directions for traditional art forms.

Robert Lepage’s dynamic and original approach constantly pushes the boundaries of theatrical performance, most notably with the use of new technologies. Drawing inspiration from contemporary life, his work has influenced a generation of artists and practitioners.

In 1975, at the age of 17, Lepage began his training at the Conservatoire d'Art Dramatique de Québec. He then spent two years acting, writing and directing various productions before joining Théatre Repére. In 1984, he created Circulations, which won an award as Best Canadian Production during La Quinzaine Internationale de Théatre de Québec. The following year, he created Dragons’ Trilogy, his first work to receive international recognition. From 1989 to 1993, he was the artistic director at the National Arts Center’s French Theatre in Ottawa. At the same time, he continued his innovative stage-directing with Needles and Opium (1991-1993/1994-1996), Coriolan, Macbeth et La Tempête (1992-1994) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1992), for which he became the first North American ever to direct a Shakespeare play at London’s Royal National Theatre. In 1994, Lepage founded his own multidisciplinary production company, Ex Machina, producing the critically acclaimed Seven Streams of the River Ota (1994), Le Songe d’une nuit d’été (1995), and his third one-man show, Elsinore (1995-1997). With multidisciplinary production center La Caserne Dalhousie, Lepage created and produced works including the opera 1984, based on George Orwell’s novel (2005), his latest solo piece, The Andersen Project (2005), Ex Machina’s last collective work, Lipsynch (2007), and Igor Stravinski’s opera The Rake’s Progress, which premiered at La Monnaie in Brussels in April 2007.

Robert Lepage’s work has been recognized and honored numerous times. Awards include the medal of l’Ordre National du Québec; the SORIQ Award; the French Legion of Honor; the Herbert Whittaker Drama Bench Award; the Prix Denise-Pelletier; the Hans Christian Andersen Prize; the Samuel-de-Champlain Prize; the International Stanislavsky Award; and the prestigious Europe Theatre Prize ex-aequo with Peter Zadek.

Links

The Andersen Project at Cal Performances.
The Rake’s Progress at the San Francisco Opera.
Ex Machina/La Caserne.
CBC Archives.
Wikipedia entry.
Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia.