Ex Machina/Robert Lepage: Needles and Opium

Spellbinding technical wizardry illuminates a multilayered tale of heartbreak as Robert Lepage takes inspiration from the lives of Jean Cocteau and Miles Davis to explore addiction, disorientation and the creative drive.



In 1949, French writer and filmmaker Cocteau returns from New York full of wonder and disenchantment while the American musician Davis visits Paris, bringing bebop to the old continent and making new fans. Forty years on, a lonely actor tries to forget his former lover, his torment echoing the dependency both artists had on drugs.



During a hypnotic series of vignettes played out within an ingeniously tilting cube, the three characters float and slide through time and space, from a Parisian hotel room to New York streets. Filmic projections, a jazz soundtrack and poetic performances by two actors complete Lepage’s production. First conceived by the boundary-pushing Canadian theatre-maker early on in his landmark career, the iconic piece is reimagined today with his trademark blend of seductive storytelling and visual transformation.



1 hour 35 mins/no interval