BWW Reviews: ADELAIDE FESTIVAL 2014: NEEDLES AND OPIUM Triumphs in its Australian Première

Reviewed Saturday 15th March 2014

Ex Machina, from Canada, brought a new reworking of Robert Lepage's twenty year old play, Needles and Opium, to the Adelaide Festival this year. Lepage, writer, actor, and director of both stage and screen, is the creator and artistic director of Ex Machina. Marc Labrèche appeared in that original production, taking over the role from Lepage after the third year and, like that one, this groundbreaking current version is also directed by Lepage.

Robert, a lonely Quebecois man suffering depression from a relationship that has recently broken down, is visiting Paris and is in the same hotel room in which he always stays; room nine at the Hôtel La Louisiane. It is the room once occupied by Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, and also in which Juliette Greco later lived with Miles Davis. He is there to record the narration for a documentary on Juliette Greco and Miles Davis. All that he has to occupy himself when not working is a book and a record. From the book, he reads Jean Cocteau's Lettre aux Americains (Letter to Americans), written in 1949 on the aircraft that was taking him home to Paris, and the recording is of the 1949 concert of Miles Davis when he performed a concert in Paris.

Marc Labrèche plays both Robert and Cocteau, whilst Wellesley Robertson III is the spirit of Miles, speaking only through his trumpet. There is, though, far more to this production, a revised version of a play two decades old that is still as relevant, powerful and moving as when it was new. The visual aspect of this production is astounding.

The set, by Carl Fillion, is a combination of a technical masterpiece and a work of art, based around a very different type of box set. Three large white squares are joined together as a floor and two walls, but that is just the beginning. This partial cube is suspended in the air and can be rotated about the corner where the three panels meet. Each panel has openings set into it which become doors, windows, and even a bed, with so many of them that a great many possibilities exist.

To top off all of this, images and videos, by Lionel Arnould, can be projected onto these three panels. These are tightly synchronised with the rotation of the box and turn the blank panels into several rooms, a recording studio, exterior locations and more, reflecting Lepage's expertise in film. Cocteau was more then a poet, embracing philosophy, scriptwriting, and art, including pen and ink drawing, which is reflected in the opening images, where titles and credits are also run. Bruno Matte's lighting and John-Sébastien Côté's music and sound add another two layers to this incredible production, with a range of costumes to fit the various eras by François St-Aubin to finish it all off.

No, that is not all that there is, either. The two performers work within and around this cube, as it rotates, as well as when it is stationary, and they are occasionally suspended on cables, adding acrobatics to the list of skills employed. Lepage, of course, has also directed for Cirque du Soleil. Wellesley Robertson III is an acrobat, gymnast, and break-dancer, skills used to superb effect in his depiction of Miles Davis, conveying enormous emotion in his portrayal through his movements and body language. Marc Labrèche also offers some fine acrobatic work to the performance, delivering lines at the same time.

The title of this work comes from Cocteau's Opium, the Diary of a Cure, he was an opium addict, and this links to Miles Davis, who was addicted to heroin. Lepage's work considers the relationship between drug addiction and creativity. Robert, of course, is autobiographical, Robert Lepage drawing on his own life and experiences. The script is as rich with imagery as the set, and the surrealism of the world on which we are looking being disconnected from our world by the device of it floating in space sits well with Cocteau, who actually refused to accept that he was a surrealist, but who was certainly an existentialist.

And that brings me to the actual performance, and the two wonderful performers who complement each other marvellously. Labrèche presents a very humorous characterisation of the quirky, larger than life Cocteau, copying his broad Parisian accent, with the long rolling Rs that Cocteau was fond of. This contrasts with Robert's accent, which is also the actor's own accent, Quebecois French. His portrayal of Robert is a deeply thoughtful characterisation, exploring all of the emotional aspects of Robert's stay in Paris. This is a sensational performance that completely captivated the audience from first to last.

Robertson's character was a new addition for this 2013 version, allowing Labrèche time for costume changes and, more importantly, enhancing and reinforcing the presence of Miles. Without a word he conveys so much, lost in the moment playing his trumpet, the deep love for Greco, and the depression on returning to America, pawning his watch and trumpet to buy drugs. Robertson has great stage presence and a very good sense of light and shade.

The Adelaide Festival had many excellent productions to offer but, for me, this was the stand out performance for this year, embodying everything that great theatre should be.

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