Robert Lepage
Robert Lepage, (born December 12, 1957) is a playwright, actor, film director, and stage director, one of Canada's most honoured theatre artists.
RESOURCES:
BOOKS:
Charest, Rémy (1997). Robert Lepage: Connecting Flights. Translated by Wanda Romer Taylor. London: Methuen.
Dundjerovic´, A. (2003). The Cinema of Robert Lepage: The Poetics of Memory. London: Wallflower Press.
Dundjervoic, A. (2009) Robert Lepage, New York:Routledge.
Etchells, T. (1999). Certain Fragments: Texts and Writings on Performance.London: Routledge.
Halprin, Lawrence (1969). The RSVP Cycles: Creative Processes in the Human Environment. New York: George Braziller.
Hodge, A. ed. (2000). Twentieth Century Actor Training. London: Routledge.
Kaye, N. (1994). Postmodernism and Performance. London: Macmillan.
WEBSITES:
EX MACHINA - Lepage's company
Lepage Profile - The Guardian
Article - The Guardian
Theatre com only survive if it's eventful - Lepage - Performing Arts Hub
BOOKS:
Charest, Rémy (1997). Robert Lepage: Connecting Flights. Translated by Wanda Romer Taylor. London: Methuen.
Dundjerovic´, A. (2003). The Cinema of Robert Lepage: The Poetics of Memory. London: Wallflower Press.
Dundjervoic, A. (2009) Robert Lepage, New York:Routledge.
Etchells, T. (1999). Certain Fragments: Texts and Writings on Performance.London: Routledge.
Halprin, Lawrence (1969). The RSVP Cycles: Creative Processes in the Human Environment. New York: George Braziller.
Hodge, A. ed. (2000). Twentieth Century Actor Training. London: Routledge.
Kaye, N. (1994). Postmodernism and Performance. London: Macmillan.
WEBSITES:
EX MACHINA - Lepage's company
Lepage Profile - The Guardian
Article - The Guardian
Theatre com only survive if it's eventful - Lepage - Performing Arts Hub
Robert Lepage's Key Concepts
1. The RVSP cycles:
This creative process was conceived by Lawrence and Anna Halprin. The RSVP Cycles are founded on (r)esources, (s)cores, (v)aluaction and (p)erformance – which in dance and performance are space, objects and the body, placing improvisation at the core of the creative process.
2. Lepage's devising process
Lepage says is attracted " to plays in which the characters are transformed, but also to plays in which thesets are transformed and matter is transcendent. It’s incredible to be able to travel through time and place, to infinity, all on a single stage. It’s the metamorphosis brought about on stage that makes this kind of travel possible. " (Charest, 1997, 135)
"I consider myself a stage author, understanding the mise-en-scène as a way of writing. For example, in this work, the ideas from the mise-en-scène alternate with the actors’ lines, one leads to the other … What fascinates me about the act of creation is that you fill a space with objects that have no relation to each other, and because they are there, ‘all piled up in the same box’, there is a secret logic, a way of organising them. Each piece of the puzzle ends up finding its place. "(Lepage, 2002)
Lepage points out that " directing is not the sole property of the director. With our approach, it comes out of a collective effort. When we rehearse with actors, we discover and uncover the play. When I direct, my approach is closer to that of a student than that of a teacher. I think this is what makes the play continue to evolve right until opening night and even beyond it. " (Charest, 1997, 167)
3. Multi media and performance art
The flexibility of Lepage’s collective creation to use different forms could be seen within the context of Goldberg’s ‘performance-theatre’.
Some of the key characteristics of performance-theatre are:
" The audience that comes to see the theatre today does not have the same narrative education as people 20–30 years ago. If I play in front of an audience in a traditional theatre, the people who are in the room have seen a lot of films, they’ve seen a lot of television, they’ve seen rock videos, and they are on the net. They are used to having people telling stories to them in all sorts of ways. They know what different points of view there are. They know what a flash-forward is, what a jump-cut is. If you look at the commercials today, there is no continuity but people have extraordinary acrobatic minds. I think that you have to use that in performance and the shifting of perception is part of that. You know that the audience is used to having their perception changed by television all the time.
(Lepage, 1999 in Dundjerovic: 2009)
This creative process was conceived by Lawrence and Anna Halprin. The RSVP Cycles are founded on (r)esources, (s)cores, (v)aluaction and (p)erformance – which in dance and performance are space, objects and the body, placing improvisation at the core of the creative process.
2. Lepage's devising process
Lepage says is attracted " to plays in which the characters are transformed, but also to plays in which thesets are transformed and matter is transcendent. It’s incredible to be able to travel through time and place, to infinity, all on a single stage. It’s the metamorphosis brought about on stage that makes this kind of travel possible. " (Charest, 1997, 135)
"I consider myself a stage author, understanding the mise-en-scène as a way of writing. For example, in this work, the ideas from the mise-en-scène alternate with the actors’ lines, one leads to the other … What fascinates me about the act of creation is that you fill a space with objects that have no relation to each other, and because they are there, ‘all piled up in the same box’, there is a secret logic, a way of organising them. Each piece of the puzzle ends up finding its place. "(Lepage, 2002)
Lepage points out that " directing is not the sole property of the director. With our approach, it comes out of a collective effort. When we rehearse with actors, we discover and uncover the play. When I direct, my approach is closer to that of a student than that of a teacher. I think this is what makes the play continue to evolve right until opening night and even beyond it. " (Charest, 1997, 167)
3. Multi media and performance art
The flexibility of Lepage’s collective creation to use different forms could be seen within the context of Goldberg’s ‘performance-theatre’.
Some of the key characteristics of performance-theatre are:
- non-text based and event-driven action
- dependency on specific space/location and time, which structures performed events
- subjectivity and an autobiographical approach
- non-conceptual
- absence of pre-conceived ideas
- independence (they are single events created as improvisation and through accidents)
- communication with the audience through a plurality of media, regardless of the audience’s verbal language
- the inclusion of the audience in the creative process
" The audience that comes to see the theatre today does not have the same narrative education as people 20–30 years ago. If I play in front of an audience in a traditional theatre, the people who are in the room have seen a lot of films, they’ve seen a lot of television, they’ve seen rock videos, and they are on the net. They are used to having people telling stories to them in all sorts of ways. They know what different points of view there are. They know what a flash-forward is, what a jump-cut is. If you look at the commercials today, there is no continuity but people have extraordinary acrobatic minds. I think that you have to use that in performance and the shifting of perception is part of that. You know that the audience is used to having their perception changed by television all the time.
(Lepage, 1999 in Dundjerovic: 2009)
