Posted: Tuesday June 1, 2010

EX MACHINA: Behind the Scenes of Robert Lepage's The Blue Dragon

An Interview with Stage Crew Member Kathy Redekopp
by Joni Summerton

Robert Lepage’s dynamic creative arts company Ex Machina is famous for the innovative staging behind The Dragons’ Trilogy, Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen for the Metropolitan Opera of New York and Peter Gabriel’s world tours, to name a few.

In the new book EX MACHINA: Creating for the Stage (2009), which documents the company’s process in its “relentless search for new forms of storytelling,” Robert Lepage says of the division of labour in the theatre that “hierarchies must be done away with.” He demonstrated his dedication to this ideal during the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad presentation of The Blue Dragon at the SFU Woodward’s theatre, when the stage crew was invited on stage during the third curtain call for bows.

We met up with stage crew member Kathy Redekopp to find out what it was like to work with Robert Lepage on The Blue Dragon and to take the bows.

What are your various roles in theatre?

I have worked as a stage manager, and lighting technician primarily, but I’ve also been a sound operator, lighting designer, and technical director.

What most attracts you to your work?

For me it was always the magic.

What are some memorable moments you’ve had while stage managing/working backstage on shows?

There was a tour that I was on with Wen Wei Dance where one of the dancers got injured twenty minutes into the second sixty-minute performance in Toronto. She had at least three more sections of a duet to perform and was able to slip off stage where I called an ambulance and got some ice for her torn ACL, while her partner continued to improvise onstage. The performers all knew the piece so well and were so confident and carried away by the energy that the show went on with five performers instead of six, to a standing ovation. The excitement, and even the anxiety, were intoxicating.

Robert Lepage also said, “Our technicians have a paradoxical role. They must integrate technical aspects into a poetic universe.” What was your specific role on The Blue Dragon / Le Dragon bleu? What did it involve?

Tech 1 was my title, meaning I assisted with all of the transitions on the upper floor of the set, raising and lowering walls, and moving furniture around.

How early were you brought into the process?

I was brought in from the first day of load-in, maybe a week before the show opened. We had a day and a half of rehearsal.

How was your experience on The Blue Dragon different from your past experience on shows?

I think the main difference is simply the size of the running crew. There were several moments throughout the show when all twelve of us were actively participating in a thirty-second transition so that we could transform the stage picture without the audience realizing that anything was going on.

The Blue Dragon is very filmic in its style and pacing. It’s as if it’s been edited, like a take, but it’s all live, and that’s why there are twelve people backstage and three on stage, so we can keep that pacing in a seamless manner. It’s so rarely accomplished.

In comparison to what the audience sees, how elaborate is the set of The Blue Dragon behind the scenes?

It is another set altogether backstage, although surprisingly simple technologies for the most part. There was only one machine-operated mechanism and the rest is entirely manual. Lots of pullies, Velcro and magnets.

Which production elements amazed you?

The projection was probably most impressive for me. I never had the opportunity to get used to it, because I was able to see only small sections, but it’s rare to see video integrated so seamlessly. I was amused that there was a commercial projected for one of these such changeovers.

For some shows the artistic director will step away after the first night, but for The Blue Dragon, Robert Lepage was one of the three cast members. What was that like?

When you have the artistic director on site, there are changes every night. I encourage changes; I love them. It means people are still thinking about the show. It’s not automatic, a machine. It’s still a piece of art that’s growing and evolving.

Ex Machina actually celebrated their 150th show of The Blue Dragon while they were in Vancouver. From everything I know about Robert, I know that he works with the designers, with the technicians, with the production team from day one, which from my knowledge is entirely unique to Ex Machina, primarily because most companies don’t have the funding for that but they also don’t prioritize. They’ll have select elements but it’s not complete. With Robert Lepage and Ex Machina it’s a holistic experience.

How did the “no hierarchies” rule influence the team dynamic?

Everybody got along really well. Everyone knew how to work together and cover each other.

We had a fantastic stage manager. Anytime something would go wrong, there would be rapid dialogue to talk about how to fix the problem, while the stage manager was calling cues on top of that. The stage manager was always in control and could allow things to get fixed without needing to say something. I could barely even tell when things went wrong because the voices were so calm.

Everybody was comfortable and always alert.

I was surprised to see all the crew members at the end of the show. Is it customary for the crew to be called out during curtain call?

Never in my life have I been called for a bow at curtain call, especially to see the standing ovation. We were called out every night except for two performances, because we went out for the third curtain call.

The cast came out in different orders each time, so there were no hierarchies even in the bows.

Even though there are no hierarchies, Lepage is the boss. You want him to be the boss. It’s his company, his baby, but there’s a lot of collaboration. He’s so mindful of everything that’s going on. It seems like he really absorbs everything.

What was it like working on the French version, Le Dragon bleu?

The French version was more lyrical; I like the mystery of it.

Our cues were called in English.

Overall, what did you learn from the experience of working on The Blue Dragon?

Robert Lepage is always collaborating. He travels with his dramaturge. That’s something that I’ve never witnessed before and that’s something that I really respect. And everybody had a piece of themselves in the performance.