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Another Lepage masterpiece
The Danes are very fond of their Hans Christian Andersen and to celebrate his bicentenary they wanted a special work about the writer. However, they probably regret asking Robert Lepage to come to Denmark to create a work about their favourite son. You don’t really want the world to know that his great claim to fame was being able to masturbate several times a day.
Lepage has produced a multi-layered work in which he is creates an alter ego writer of himself in the guise of Frederic Watson (played by Yves Jacques) who has been commissioned by the Paris Opera to write the libretto of a Hans Christian Andersen opera.
The boards that Lepage reported to were probably appalled at his concept. Certainly, when Frederic meets his cultural committee to discuss the production there are clashes about what the work should be celebrating, especially when he reveals his interest in the seamier side of Anderson’s life.
Lepage’s works have always been about serious issues; our perception of history, the interplay between cultures and theatrical interface between realty and fiction.
In this work he also inserts more personal levels of inquiry such the role of sex in the creative process as well as life of the solitary creative genius and the desire for success.
One of the more important aspects of Lepage’s theatrical works is the focus on the creating elaborate stage sets which create an environment for his characters to inhabit.
The sets are not as massive as some of his previous works but they are inspired. Aided in part by the clever use of a film screen that can be climbed into as well as ranks of phone boots, sets of porn show booths, a subway and forest, we are introduced to a marvelous illusionary world which the actor inhabits.
As well as playing Frederic, Yves Jacques also has to play several other characters including; Andersen himself, the director of the Paris Opera, the peep show janitor and a graffiti artist. He also has lengthy “off stage” conversations with his girlfriend his best friend, the backers of the opera, a psychiatrist and the peep show staff.
While the play touches on social and political issues particularly the clash between the aesthetic and the political it also looks and sexual identity and fulfillment.
But towering over all these themes are those of artistic endeavour and creation with Lepage examining the physical, financial, collaborative and, thematic personal issues which come into play with artistic productions.
The two stories of Andersens are expanded in The Dryad and The Shadow, both of which have themes of the search for new experiences and the desire for fulfillment. In The Dryad a nymph goes to Paris in search of excitement but perishes because it is an alien world which she cannot adapt to.
In The Shadow a man becomes disconnected from his shadow and it is said to be a moral tale about the good and evil side of the individual but it is equally a metaphor about the way that art creations live on after the artists passing and raises questions about the nature of art.
It is the role of Yves Jacques which makes the show. His wigs, clothes and voice changes are superb and he captures the characters brilliantly in the often lengthy monologues.
The play is a triumph of theatrical inventiveness and we are drawn into the world of the theatre and then wrapped in its illusions and will be a measure for experimental plays for years to come.
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