Robert Lepage / Ex Machina








CURRENT PRODUCTIONS


Touring in Europe and Japan



Performances



> Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (2024) — Guillaume Côté / Robert Lepage / Ex Machina
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark © Stéphane Bourgeois		Created by choreographer Guillaume Côté and stage director Robert Lepage, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark pulls the audience deep into a world of deceptiveness, where phantoms and humans mingle on a minimalist set where light, shadow and transparency play a central role. This metaphorical reinterpretation of the Shakespearian drama draws a fine line connecting movements of the body with what may or may not be lurking within the corners of the mind. First draft: 26 - 28 July 2023, Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur (QC, CA) World premiere: 03 April 2024, Show One Productions, Elgin Theatre, Toronto (CA)



> SLAM! (2024) — FLIP Fabrique / Robert Lepage / Ex Machina
SLAM! © Stéphane Bourgeois		In SLAM!, Robert Lepage, Ex Machina and Flip Fabrique will offer a revisited wrestling gala, playing with the conventions of theatre, circus and wrestling. The wrestling ring becomes a trampoline, while the side cables serve as wires for tightrope walkers or the announcer's microphone becomes an aerial acrobatic device. World premiere: 05 March 2024, Le Diamant, Quebec (QC, CA)



> The Riopelle Project (2023)
Le Projet Riopelle (in rehearsal) © Ex Machina / François Latulippe		Jean Paul Riopelle is a major figure in the Quebec artistic landscape. His creative life spans the second half of the 20th century. The Riopelle Project focuses on three periods of the painter's life and work between 1944 and 1990s, from Montreal to L'Isle-aux-Grues, via France and his significant encounters. Production Ex Machina, in co-production with Fondation Jean Paul Riopelle, Duceppe, Le Diamant, and Théâtre français du Centre national des Arts du Canada. Premiere: 25 April 2023, Théâtre Jean-Duceppe, Montreal (Qc, CA).



> Courville (2021)
Courville © Christophe Raynaud de Lage		*Courville* - which name evokes a village from another era that was located on the outskirts of Quebec City - sketches the portrait of a complex adolescence, where the backdrop of collective euphoria cannot occult the torments of sexual awakening, the weight of the look of others or the obsession of appearances. Throughout the show, the ancestral technique of bunraku is used to bring life to puppets of all sizes that embody Simon and his entourage. On stage, Olivier Normand is the narrator of the story. Premiere: 19 September 2021, Le Diamant, Quebec Ciry (QC, CA)



> The Seven Streams of the River Ōta (2019)
The Seven Streams of the River Ōta © Elias Djemil-Matassov		The acclaimed seven-hour saga by Ex Machina, directed by Robert Lepage, is a giant theatrical journey through time and space. In this new edition of his masterpiece, Robert Lepage continues to explore how a few kilograms of uranium falling on Japan changed the course of human history and how the tragedies of the Holocaust and Hiroshima permeate the experience of not only the survivors, but also their descendants. As the play traces seven stories from 1945 to 1995, a common theme emerges: the quest for meaning and peace when facing death and horror. We encounter characters who embrace hope and sensuality, and laugh in the face of adversity. Premiere: 19 July 2019, Chekhov International Theatre Festival Helikon-Opera Theatre, Moscow (RU)



> Quills by Doug Wright (2016), directed by Robert Lepage and Jean-Pierre Cloutier
Quills © Stéphane Bourgeois		Censorship and freedom of expression collide and come face to face in this landmark piece that questions both the responsibility of the artist when it comes to his work's repercussions and the very definition of morality, which is not as immutable as is often believed. Premiere: 12 January 2016 at Theatre du Trident, Quebec (CA).



> 887 (2015)
887 © Érick Labbé		A solo performance directed and performed by Robert Lepage, commissioned by the Arts and Culture Program of the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games. World premiere the 14th of July 2015 in Toronto (CA).



> Needles and Opium (2013)
Needles and Opium © Nicola-Frank Vachon		Lepage's masterpiece (1991) re-created in a new staging and set, with Olivier Normand and Wellesley Robertson III. Premiered the 17th of September 2013 at the Théâtre du Trident in Quebec (CA).



> The Far Side of the Moon (2000)
The Far Side of the Moon © Emmanuel Valette		Created in Quebec City (CA) in March 2000, The Far Side of the Moon concentrates on the conflict between two brothers who are trying to come to grips with the death of their mother. It is also concerned with Russian cosmonaut Leonov, confronted with the immensity of interplanetary space as he took his first steps out of the Soyouz spacecraft. And it also sees a goofy but touching video recording by the main character sent out to space, in an attempt to show potential extraterrestrial viewers the poetry that sometimes hides in human daily life.



Installation and exhibitions



> The Library at Night (2015)
The Library at Night © Stéphane Bourgeois		As part of the festivities surrounding the Grand Bibliothèque’s 10th anniversary, Robert Lepage and Ex Machina have created, based on an original idea by Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, an exhibition inspired by Alberto Manguel’s The Library at Night. In this work, the Argentine-born Canadian author addresses the philosophical, logical, architectural and social dimensions that underlie any library’s existence. Multifaceted, The Library at Night offers visitors a museum-like, design-based and virtual immersion experience. This exhibition is a voyage through time, and around the world, to 10 mythic places—an immersive and sensory adventure that involves both our intelligence and our memory.



> FRAGMENTATION - ReACTOR (2010)
FRAGMENTATION © MBAM, Denis Farleyé		FRAGMENTATION is the adaptation, by Richard Castelli and Volker Kuchelmeister, of three scenes from the play Lipsynch written by Frédérike Bédard, Carlos Belda, Rebecca Blankenship, Lise Castonguay, John Cobb, Nuria Garcia, Marie Gignac, Sarah Kemp, Robert Lepage, Rick Miller and Hans Piesbergen and directed by Robert Lepage, for the ReACTOR, a 3D environment designed by Sarah Kenderdine & Jeffrey Shaw. Premiered April 2011 as part of "Matter-Light" exhibition / Bethune 2011 Capitale régionale de la culture (FR).



Other projects



> Coriolanus (2018) by Robert Lepage / Stratford Festival / Ex Machina
He is fearless on the battlefield – but in the pitfall-laden world of politics, he' s doomed by his contempt for the common people. This stunning production by genre-defying director Robert Lepage explores the age-old tensions that still tear at the heart of democracy. Premiered the 9th of June 2018 at Avon Theatre, Stratford Festival (CA).



> Frame by Frame (2018), with the National Ballet of Canada
Frame by Frame © David Leclerc		A ballet based on the work of Norman McLaren, with the National Ballet of Canada, directed by Robert Lepage and choreographed by Guillaume Côté. Premiered the 1st of June 2018 at Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, National Ballet of Canada, Toronto (CA).



Opera staging



> The Magic Flute (2018) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Creation: 31 July 2018 at the Grand Théâtre de Québec, Festival d'opéra de Québec (Canada).



> The Nightingale and Other Short Fables (2009-2010) by Igor Stravinsky
The Nightingale (act III) © Carl Fillion		The idea of a double bill with Le Rossignol (1914) and Renard (1915/1922), two short operas by Igor Stravinsky, is rather atypical in the world of opera houses. The scenography and the theatrical language put to use have a similar feel. Very early in the creation process, Robert Lepage joined the well-known American puppet designer Michael Curry. In fact, the art of puppetry will occupy a central role in this show, as well as shadow theatre. Asia is a great source of inspiration for this piece, with references to Vietnamese traditions, the mua rôi nuac, a water puppet, and Japanese traditions, the bunraku. The Nightingale and Other Short Fables premiered October 2009 at the Canadian Opera Company (Toronto), and was presented at the Festival Lyrique d’Aix-en-Provence (FR) in July 2010, before playing at the Lyon Opera during the autumn of 2010.