Theatre
Mar 11-Mar 18 | Reviewed by Brannavan Gnanalingam

IT'S SO EASY to go into something and expect it to be great. As a result, you think it is great afterwards. As a reviewer I'm not averse to pre-judging things – I sure as hell did that for Robert Lepage. It was brilliant – it was theatre at its highest that I didn't even care about some missteps.

The Dragons' Trilogy looks at the story of Chinese immigrants to Canada. The play starts in 1910 in Quebec City, as an English traveller walks into a Chinese laundry. As the story progresses, cultures and stories become intertwined. The play moves with astonishing speed around the globe (there is a strand involving Hiroshima and a Japanese woman being made pregnant and abandoned by an American soldier) and breaking down notions of time (though the play does stick to a chronology of sorts). The play looks at the Western world being forced to confront the Eastern world, and also how the Eastern world has been forced to confront the West. Fittingly, the play concludes with Vancouver – a Western city that faces the East.

Lepage is looking at how shared histories define who we are. He is also saying we need to know these if we ever want to connect. A forced marriage between the East and the West at the start of the play was ultimately disastrous, as was the cruel and manipulative American/Japanese relationship. The joy of the climax was through a mutual love and understanding of the Western and Asian lovers.

The strength of the play was in the direction. The set was simple, yet allowed for incredible mobility and striking images. The use of space was cinematic – and show just how much most film directors (let alone theatre) need to look at how to use space. While some of the images may not have worked (the super-sped up airline pilot scene and the tangled up sexual imagery for example), some were frankly, stunning. The montage scenes and the dragon finale in particular were wonderful. The conclusions of each scene were great (especially the second scene), as was the lighting, sound, acting and movement. This was great theatre – and if ever Lepage comes back again, I urge you to see his plays.

» The Dragon's Trilogy @ NZ International Arts Festival

A sprawling epic that spans 75 years and seven time zones, this new version of The Dragons' Trilogy is a stunning example of revolutionary director Robert Lepage’s ingenious approach to storytelling. First devised in 1985, it launched Lepage onto the world stage, where he has established a formidable reputation as a director, designer, playwright, filmmaker and performer....[Read More]