the
far side of the moon - Touring
Written, directed and Preformed by - Robert Lepage
Creative team details are at end of this review
Company - Robert Lepage/ Ex machina
Venue -Tramway 1, Glasgow - 0141 287 3900
Date - 19 - 21 April at 8pm then touring
Performance lasts 2hrs and 20mins, no interval but you won't notice.
Reviewer - Ksenija Horvat
Have you ever imagined what it would be like to walk on the Moon? From
the opening sequence, in which the light is left on in the auditorium
long enough for the audience to come face to face with their own reflection,
to the final gripping image of gravity-free movement in space, Robert
Lepage takes us on a weird and wonderful journey of discovery of our
inner selves in his new beautifully crafted and powerfully performed
one-man show at Glasgow's Tramway.
the far side of the moon is based on the Cold War moon race between
the Soviet Union and the United States. On a more personal level, it
tells a story of conflict, love and bereavement, as two brothers try
to come to terms with the recent loss of their mother. The parallels
are constantly drawn between the sibling rivalry of the two brothers
and two 'warring' nations, reminding the audience that, ultimately,
they are only the reflections, the mirror images of each other. Time
and time again, Lepage strips bare different layers of human emotions,
to show the narcissism of human race that stems out of the delusion
that we can control cosmos, and our lives, by the power of knowledge.
This knowledge is shown as faulty - one of the brothers, Philippe, is
a Ph.D. student in cultural philosophy who has already failed his viva
voce on two previous occasions. Similarly, his younger brother, a TV
weatherman who lacks understanding about the basic processes of change
in nature. In one scene, Philippe impatiently waits to meet Alexei Leonov,
a Soviet cosmonaut and artist, in a Montreal bar. By his own admission,
the real reason he wants to speak to Leonov is not to discuss science.
It is to ask him how one can make sense of this world 'once you've been
out there'. As the play progresses, the present turns into the past,
the past turns into the present; we are lured to join the characters
on their voyage down the memory lane, only to realise that the past
and the present are one, and time and space are both limitless and limiting.
This production features everything one expects of Lepage - mechanical
sets, cleverly used props and lighting, miniature cameras, puppets,
and spectacle, topped by an extraordinary original score by Laurie Anderson.
Lepage's fascination with multimedia technology is well known. However,
what makes this production so enticing is its simplicity, not its technical
flawlessness. Technology never gets in the way of an individual genius,
and while we watch Lepage move effortlessly across the stage, in any
of his many transformations, we cannot but acknowledge that what we
have just witnessed is magic. This is a funny, poignant and spellbinding
show that must not be missed. Oh, and yes, in case you wonder, even
without an interval, you will not notice those two hours flying by.
© Ksenija Horvat 19 April 2001
© R.Lepage 2000
Rest of the creative team for the far side of the moon were
Script Consultant - Adam Nashman
Artistic Collaborator/Project Originator - Peder Bjurman
Assistant to the Director - Pierre-Philippe Guay
Original Music Score - Laurie Anderson
Additional Music - Beethoven, John Coltrane, Led Zeppelin
Costume Designer - Marie-Chantalle Vaillancourt
Assistant Set Designer - Marie-Claude Pelletier
Assistant Lighting Designer - Bernard White
Puppet Designer - Pierre Robitaille, Sylvie Courbron
Puppeteer - Pierre Bernier
Images produced by - Jacques Collin, Véronique Couturier