Facing the family

>> Robert Lepage brings Miracles home

by AMY BARRATT

 With very little fanfare, Robert Lepage's Geometry of Miracles/La Geometrie des Miracles takes the stage at Usine C next week. The production began its life two years ago as a work in progress at the World Stage Festival in Toronto. It has since made stops in Singapore, New York and Paris, among other places, on its long quest for maturity. It's a familiar pattern for Lepage projects, reminding me of nothing more than a 19-year-old who goes abroad to "find himself" and to work up the courage to come home and face his dysfunctional family.

 Lauded the world over for his original, visually stunning work, Lepage often has a hard time getting respect on his native soil. Quebec critics tend to have problems with Quebec artists who find success on the world stage, especially if that means sometimes working in English. On the one hand, they're proud of Lepage's success; on the other, they're not sure he's still a Quebecer.

 It's ridiculous of course. Can you imagine the Americans disowning Hemingway just because much of his work was done in Europe? And the Irish cling to Beckett as one of their own despite the fact that he lived in France and wrote in French.

 Lepage, like most artists, places a high value on individuality. But this outlook can be threatening to Quebec nationalists' vision of the "collectivity".

 Geometry of Miracles bears a certain resemblance to Lepage's Aiguilles et Opium (1992), which superimposed the lives and careers of Miles Davis and Jean Cocteau with a personal confession of heartbreak and obsession. This time, Lepage explores the bizarre (and apparently true to life) intersection between American architect Frank Lloyd Wright (played by a woman, Marie Brassard), and spiritual philosopher G. I. Gurdjieff.

 The multimedia, hyper-technical show, typical of Lepage's company Ex Machina, will be performed in four languages, with English predominating. Among numerous others, the cast features local Fringe wonderboy Rick Miller.

 Lepage's endless offshore tryouts can backfire on him. By the time the show gets to Quebec, expectations have been building for years. While critics in other cities can forgive a piece's shortcomings because of that "work-in-progress" label, by the time a Lepage show gets here, our attitude tends to be "okay, let's see what's so great". Maybe that's the reason for the lack of fanfare surrounding this Montreal premiere.

 La Geometrie des miracles/ Geometry of Miracles March 16 to April 1 at Usine C. Tickets $35, Students $22. 521-4493.

 Blacks Don't Bowl That's the catchy title of one of three new plays being developed by The Next Stage, a Black Theatre Workshop programme. The public gets to take a peek this month with three rehearsed readings going on at the Infinite Space. Blacks Don't Bowl, by Vadney Hayes, which deals with the shooting death of a young black man, will be read tonight (March 9).

 March 16th it's Yagayah, a "performance poetry" piece by Debbie Young and Naila Belvett. Finally, there's The Art of Thinking, by Owen Belgrave, about a young man coming to terms with inner demons as well as outer ones, like his absent father.

 

The Next Stage, next three Thursdays at 8 p.m., infinitheatre. Box office at Blizzarts, 3956A St-Laurent. Black Theatre Workshop Info: 932-1104. Free for BTW and infinitheatre members. $10 others.