Robert Lepage

“The first 'Ring' in Bayreuth was about the poetical world, the mythological world.”

“Theater originated with technology. People forget that.”

“I've always had a passion for geography. Even at a very young age.”

“My father had barely any education. He could hardly write or count. But his great pride was that he was perfectly bilingual. In the household, he entertained this idea that we had to speak both languages.”

“We should never overestimate an audience's culture, but we should never underestimate their intelligence.”

“Of course theater will always be associated intimately to literature, but the themes or whatever have to penetrate you by the senses. Theater is a sensuous experience, and that's its main difference from film or any other dramatic art.”

“Theatre's still expensive compared to downloading on Netflix; that has to be addressed. It doesn't mean it has to be over-subsidised by the state, but it's something we're trying to figure out.”

“Cirque du Soleil distinguished itself by being a circus with no animals. Before then, circus was partly about showing how man can tame other species.”

“If Darwin's theories are true, then we have within us the physical memory of when we were fish or apes.”

“You're only as good as your last movie, period. It's a business.”

“'The Blue Dragon' uses very filmic language and involves a lot of technology. It is more cinematic than theatrical and was inspired by comic strips and graphic novels.”

“People talk about fantastic memories of childhood, but I remember children being cruel to me and wanting to come out of childhood as soon as possible because I knew adults were generally more contained in their cruelty.”

“Opera is a very stimulating place to work, and I believe it offers the most intense theatrical experience possible.”

“A lot of people hated every moment of my 'Ring.' And a lot of people who had never been to an opera bought subscriptions to the next season.”

“When we did 'The Dragons' Trilogy,' China was a big, mysterious piece of rock that we never thought would even move. It was impenetrable, impossible to deal with.”

“In Las Vegas, you confront yourself with your darkest desires, because they're all possible there.”

“Theatre comes alive when someone cross-dresses onstage.”

“The thing that's interesting about Trump is that when you read 'Coriolanus,' you'd be tempted to draw parallels. But I don't do that.”

“I was a privileged observer to be there when Celine Dion opened at Caesars Palace and then the second Gulf War started. It was an odd thing to see the impact both events had on Vegas. The place was riding high after Celine, but overnight, once war was declared, it was deserted.”

“I will always demand the right for theatre to talk about anything and anyone. Without exception. None.”