THEATRE – Edinburgh, Scotland – Edinburgh International Festival – “887” by Robert Lepage.
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Supported by Jo and Alison Elliot, Québec Government Office, London, Conseil des arts et des lettres Québec and Canada Council for the Arts.
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Photo of “887” courtesy of Edinburgh International Festival. All rights reserved 2015. Copyright © Edinburgh International Festival.
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887: for Robert Lepage, that street number will forever be associated with his childhood. It’s also the starting point for a riveting foray into the workings of memory. How is it that we can remember a telephone number from our childhood, but not the one we have now? Why do the details of the most banal past experiences stay with us, while other, more important events fade into oblivion?
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Urban Book Circle® (UBC)
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887 by Robert Lepage
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European Premiere
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In 887, Robert Lepage draws on his childhood memories
to launch a playful, intimate and spectacular foray into the workings
of human memory, the stories we tell, and the history we’ve forgotten.
Another astonishing one-man show from the creator of The Far Side of the Moon and The Andersen Project.
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Legendary director, playwright and ‘visual wizard’ (New York Times), Robert Lepage returns to Edinburgh to perform the European premiere of his new work.
While Lepage continues to pioneer the use of technology, his work is imbued with an intimacy and humanity that few can match. 887 is a riveting foray into the world of memory, exploring how personal recollections are reflected in collective consciousness. Lepage recalls his own experience as a French-speaking child during the October Crisis of 1970, when violent action by the Front de libération du Québec provoked the invocation of the War Measures Act, bringing troops onto the streets of the province. Years later, in an era of unlimited digital capture and storage he must examine the validity and nature of his memories and the very purpose of theatre, an art based on the act of remembering. |
An Ex Machina production, commissioned by the Arts and Culture Program
of the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games in co-production with
le lieu unique, Nantes, La Comète – Scène nationale de
Châlons-en-Champagne, Edinburgh International Festival, Århus
Festuge, Théâtre de la Ville-Paris, Festival d'Automne à
Paris, Romaeuropa Festival 2015, Bonlieu Scène nationale Annecy, Ysarca
Art Promotions - Pilar de Yzaguirre, Célestins, Théâtre de Lyon, Le
Théâtre français du Centre national des Arts d’Ottawa and Le Théâtre du
Nouveau Monde, Montréal.
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Robert Lepage is one of the most influential artists working in today’s theatre. His unclassifiable career has ranged from epic stagings for the Metropolitan Opera and Cirque du Soleil, to deeply personal solo shows such as The Far Side of the Moon and major ensemble works such as The Seven Streams of the River Ota. He has directed many films including the acclaimed Le Polygraphe and starred in Denys Arcand’s Jésus de Montréal.
887: for Robert Lepage, that street number will forever be associated with his childhood. It’s also the starting point for a riveting foray into the workings of memory. How is it that we can remember a telephone number from our childhood, but not the one we have now? Why do the details of the most banal past experiences stay with us, while other, more important events fade into oblivion?
Delving into his own recollections, the ever-inquisitive Lepage traverses a vast canvas that invites viewers to reflect on the nature of personal and collective memory. Venturing beyond the individual, he also considers the names of streets, monuments and parks, placing these commemorative markers in the context of a fascinating look at the ramifications of the human psyche and the link between personal recollections and collective consciousness.
With this playful, experimental work about the essence of theatre–an art based on the act of remembering–and the nature of humankind, Quebec’s leading contemporary artist adds another title to his roster of legendary one-man shows: Needles and Opium, Elsinore, The Far Side of the Moon, and The Andersen Project. In 887, he never explains. He describes and reveals, creating a space where, amazed, we apprehend what we were on the verge of forgetting: our stories, our history.
Delving into his own recollections, the ever-inquisitive Lepage traverses a vast canvas that invites viewers to reflect on the nature of personal and collective memory. Venturing beyond the individual, he also considers the names of streets, monuments and parks, placing these commemorative markers in the context of a fascinating look at the ramifications of the human psyche and the link between personal recollections and collective consciousness.
With this playful, experimental work about the essence of theatre–an art based on the act of remembering–and the nature of humankind, Quebec’s leading contemporary artist adds another title to his roster of legendary one-man shows: Needles and Opium, Elsinore, The Far Side of the Moon, and The Andersen Project. In 887, he never explains. He describes and reveals, creating a space where, amazed, we apprehend what we were on the verge of forgetting: our stories, our history.
Edited by Deidre McAuliffe, MFA,
Irish Canadian linguist and literary program editor of the Urban Book Circle
Irish Canadian linguist and literary program editor of the Urban Book Circle
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Deidre McAuliffe, MFA – photo by Deidre McAuliffe. All rights reserved 2015. Copyright © Deidre McAuliffe.
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Edited by Deidre McAuliffe, MFA, Irish Canadian linguist and literary program editor of the Urban Book Circle.
Edinburgh, Scotland – Edinburgh International Festival – “887” by Robert Lepage.
Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslav Drama Theatre – Thalerhof by Andrzej Stasiuk, Schauspielhaus, Graz. The guest performance from Schauspielhaus, Graz, Thalerhof takes part in the Programme of Marking the WWI Centerary in 2014, which has support of the Ministry of culture and information in the Republic of Serbia.
Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslav Drama Theatre – 1914, Directed by Robert Wilson, National Theatre Prague. The guest performance from National Theatre Prague, 1914 takes part in the Programme of Marking the WWI Centenary in 2014, which has support of the Ministry of culture and information in the Republic of Serbia.
Belgrade, Serbia – Dragonslayers by Milena Markovic, Directed by Iva Milosevic, Yugoslav Drama Theatre. The piece is written as a “heroic cabaret”, in a form of an ironic history lesson. Dragonslayers takes part in the Programme of Marking the WWI Centenary, which has support of the Ministry of culture and information in the Republic of Serbia.
Edited by Deidre McAuliffe, MFA, Irish Canadian linguist and literary program editor of the Urban Book Circle.
Edited by Deidre McAuliffe, MFA, Irish Canadian linguist and literary program editor of the Urban Book Circle.
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· Photo of 887 courtesy of Edinburgh International Festival
All rights reserved 2015. Copyright © Edinburgh International Festival ·
All rights reserved 2015. Copyright © Edinburgh International Festival ·
· Photo of Edinburgh International Festival courtesy of Edinburgh International Festival
All rights reserved 2015. Copyright © Edinburgh International Festival ·
All rights reserved 2015. Copyright © Edinburgh International Festival ·
· Photo of Edinburgh courtesy of Urban Book Circle archives ·
· Photo of Samuel Beckett’s bookshelf in the study of his apartment at the Boulevard St Jacques in Paris courtesy of John Minihan / All rights reserved 1985. Copyright © John Minihan ·
· Design & Artwork by Djuradj Vujcic and Prvoslav Vujcic · Illustrated by Sarah Riordan and Deidre McAuliffe ·
· Edited by Djuradj Vujcic, Prvoslav Vujcic, Deidre McAuliffe, Sarah Riordan and Danijela Kovacevic Mikic ·
· Edited by Djuradj Vujcic, Prvoslav Vujcic, Deidre McAuliffe, Sarah Riordan and Danijela Kovacevic Mikic ·
All rights reserved 2015. Copyright © Urban Book Circle®
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Last updated on August 19, 2015.
Published by Urban Book Circle on Aufgust 19, 2015 Urban Book Circle® (UBC) |
