Robert Lepage Quotes

Robert Lepage

Profession : Playwright

Birth : December 12, 1957

Theater originated with technology. People forget that.

Robert Lepage

Technology can become a crutch. Sometimes it's there just to hide behind when you're shy of what you're trying to say.

Robert Lepage

I've always been a little scared of technology, which is why I explore it.

Robert Lepage

I think theatre must be an event, an experience, not compete with cinema. When people are able to download stories on Netflix, you need to give them a good reason to jump into the car and drive two hours. It has to be something you can only see in the theatre, and it has to be worth it.

Robert Lepage

A puppet, for example, is just a piece of wood, a couple of rivets, but put them together, and if you know how to do it, and the audience's imagination joins in with this, then a miracle will come out of that machine. That is what we and the audience do in the theatre - we create miracles in that space.

Robert Lepage

You're only as good as your last movie, period. It's a business.

Robert Lepage

We have a tendency in Quebec - and I include myself in this - to describe ourselves using the past. We're always nostalgic.

Robert Lepage

We should never overestimate an audience's culture, but we should never underestimate their intelligence.

Robert Lepage

Making art in big cities is often frustrating and difficult. It's why artists are drawn to smaller places.

Robert Lepage

A show is good when there is a meeting of time and space, when time and space become irrelevant.

Robert Lepage

The important thing is not to know where you are going, to be open to accidents. That's what keeps it fun.

Robert Lepage

People think that it is negative, but in fact, chaos can be very fertile.

Robert Lepage

Theatre comes alive when someone cross-dresses onstage.

Robert Lepage

A lot of people hated every moment of my 'Ring.' And a lot of people who had never been to an opera bought subscriptions to the next season.

Robert Lepage

For me, theater will always be very, very much alive, but not necessarily in the theatrical tradition.

Robert Lepage

Chaos is a good thing.

Robert Lepage

During the tour of 'Circulations,' we spent a lot of time in Canadian Chinatowns. I was fascinated by the idea that you can cross the road and enter this dream world, this vision of China.

Robert Lepage

Opera should be a place for art forms to meet. I've worked a lot with Peter Gabriel; his music isn't operatic, but he creates big, popular gatherings to which architecture, dance, and music are all invited.

Robert Lepage

It's obvious that any new show comes with its share of blunders, misfires, and bad choices.

Robert Lepage

When I directed the 'Ring' cycle at the Metropolitan Opera in New York recently, there were people texting all through the show. But theatre isn't a communication device: it's a communion.

Robert Lepage