Robert Lepage

Robert Lepage is a Canadian playwright, actor, film director and stage director whose work reshapes contemporary theatre through multimedia, technology and personal narrative. Born on December 12, 1957 in Quebec City, he grew up in the modest Montcalm neighbourhood and faced early challenges, including a rare form of alopecia that left him hairless and a teenage struggle with clinical depression as he embraced his gay identity. He studied acting at the Conservatoire de Québec (1975‑1977) and later attended workshops at Alain Knapp’s theatre school in Paris, experiences that informed his experimental style. In the early 1980s Lepage joined Théâtre Repère, creating breakthrough productions such as Circulations (1984) and the acclaimed Dragons’ Trilogy (1985), which earned international recognition and set the stage for his reputation as an avant‑garde visionary. In 1994 he founded the multidisciplinary company Ex Machina, under which he staged landmark works like The Seven Streams of the River Ota, Elsinore, Geometry of Miracles and the seminal solo show The Far Side of the Moon, the latter winning multiple awards and later being adapted into a feature film. Lepage’s filmography includes The Confessional (1995), Polygraph (1996), Nô (1998), Possible Worlds (2000) and Triptych (2013), while his opera and concert productions have spanned the Metropolitan Opera, Cirque du Soleil’s Kà and Totem, and collaborations with Peter Gabriel, Sylvie Guillem and Alexander McQueen. Honoured with the Order of Canada, the National Order of Quebec, the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award and the Europe Theatre Prize, Lepage continues to push artistic boundaries, most recently with projects on Jean‑Paul Riopelle and new stage works presented worldwide.