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Description

Jean Paul Riopelle is a prominent figure in the artistic landscape of Quebec. His creative life spans the second half of the 20th century. His work contributed to the emergence of new art movements. His curiosity disregarded boundaries between disciplines, and he reinvented his techniques periodically. His process seemed to be guided by two fundamental drives: a powerful, constant creative urge and a recurring tendency to radically change sources of inspiration and artistic worlds.

Le Projet Riopelle follows three eras of the painter’s life and work.

1944 to 1960: These years include Riopelle’s first pictorial influences; his friendships with the future signatories of Le Refus global at the École du meuble de Montréal; his move to France and the relationships that he develops there with André Breton, Joan Miró and Samuel Beckett; his growing success; his pivotal meeting with Joan Mitchell; and his subsequent inroads into the artistic avant-garde of New York.

1960 to 1980: Mitchell and Riopelle’s fruitful and stormy relationship sets the stage for this period. Their creative visions nourish each other, their cultural references collide, and their passionate impulses lead to fusion as well as separation. Gradually, Riopelle’s return to Quebec takes shape, influenced by his emerging friendship with Champlain Charest.

1986 to 1993: Anchored at L’Isle-aux-Grues, in the heart of the St. Lawrence River, Riopelle has an increased interest in more or less representational depictions of the nature of Quebec. His new companion, Huguette Vachon, helps him in innumerable ways, all the more so as age forces the artist toward new creation techniques. These sometimes unprecedented approaches find their culmination in Tribute to Rosa Luxembourg, which celebrates the memory of Joan Mitchell, who died in 1992.

An Ex Machina production In co-production with the Jean Paul Riopelle Foundation, Duceppe, Le Diamant and the National Arts Centre French Theatre

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Cast

  • Anne-Marie Cadieux
  • Violette Chauveau
  • Richard Fréchette
  • Gabriel Lemire
  • Étienne Lou
  • Noémie O'Farrell
  • Luc Picard
  • Audrée Southière
  • Philippe Thibault-Denis

Credit

  • Written, designed and directed by Robert Lepage
  • Coauthor, creative direction and design Steve Blanchet
  • Dialogues Olivier Kemeid
  • Assistant Director Félix Dagenais
  • Music and Sound Design Laurier Rajotte
  • Ariane Sauvé
  • Image Design Félix Fradet-Faguy
  • Lighting Design Lucie Bazzo
  • Costume Design Virginie Leclerc
  • Properties Design Eveline Tanguay
  • Choreography Jeffrey Hall
  • Wigs Rachel Tremblay assistée de Sarah Tremblay et Xavier Charbonneau-Gravel
  • Make-up Élène Pearson
  • Production Manager Marie-Pierre Gagné
  • Production Assistant Véronique St-Jacques
  • Technical Director — Creation Olivier Bourque
  • Tour Manager Carole-Anne Roberge
  • Technical Director — Tour Emmanuelle Nappert
  • Stage Manager Adèle Saint-Amand
  • Sound Manager Marcin Bunar
  • Lightning Manager Zacharie Filteau
  • Video Manager Zachary Noël-Ferland
  • Assistant Stage Manager Anne-Marie Bureau
  • Machiniste Louis-Philippe Cloutier
  • Costume Manager
  • Properties Manager Chloé Blanchet
  • Costume Manager - Creation Isabel Poulin
  • Sound and R&D Project Manager Stanislas Elie
  • Video and R&D Project Manager Samuel Sérandour
  • Video programming - Creation Gabrielle Martineau
  • Stage Painting Amélie Trépanier
  • Set Construction Astuce Décors, Conception Alain Gagné, Unisson
  • Collaboration on set and properties design Par Apparat confection créative
  • Costume Construction
  • Music Copyright Clearance Delphine Saint-Marcoux, La Négo
  • Robert Lepage's Agent Lynda Beaulieu
  • In co-production with La Fondation Jean Paul Riopelle, Duceppe, Le Diamant et le Théâtre français du Centre national des Arts du Canada
A presentation of
Beneva
In collaboration with
Radio-Canada
Public programming partners
Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec Canada Conseil des arts du Canada Ville de Québec

They said...

« (...) Robert Lepage met donc à profit sa virtuosité pour offrir une leçon d’histoire aussi instructive qu’imaginative. »

Emmanuel Martinez, Le Journal de Montréal

« Sur le plan de la mise en scène, on est dans une classe à part. Ce n'est pas pour rien, c'est Robert Lepage, il travaille partout dans le monde. Son ingéniosité, sa vision, sa créativité, c'est presque de la magie ce qu'il parvient à faire avec l'intégration des technologies. »

Eugénie Lépine-Blondeau, Tout un matin, ICI Première

« C'est riche, c'est généreux, c'est foisonnant et ça mêle, comme le fait toujours Robert Lepage, le trivial, le banal à une virtuosité visuelle ! »

Nathalie Petrowski, Pénélope, ICI Première

« Des moments quotidiens aux séquences oniriques, des scènes de vaudeville aux envolées lyriques, des corps attablés dans un café à ceux qu’on incruste savamment dans un paysage sublime, on retrouve ici la plupart des motifs qui ont fait la renommée du créateur. (...) Il survient ces jours-ci sur la scène du théâtre Duceppe des moments d’une rare beauté, des points de jonction entre le fond et la forme, entre la vie et l’art, entre l’œuvre en marche et l’émotion qui la nourrit. De ces instants de grâce, on vous souhaite d’être les témoins. »

Christian Saint-Pierre, Le Devoir

« La scénographie est d'une grande beauté et d'une indéniable ingéniosité. (...) La dizaine d'interprètes incarnent dans Le projet Riopelle plus d'une centaine de rôles ! Il faut du souffle et les interprètes n'en manquent jamais. Chapeau ! »

Stéphanie Morin, La Presse

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