robert lepage

Sometimes I just forget how brilliant some people are.
Like Robert Lepage. He must be "Maria's Inspirational Man no.100".
He's a theatre director/writer, actor, film director, installation artist and just an absolute genius. And I don't use this term very often.

He's from Quebec and was born in 1957. At the age of 5, he was diagnosed with alopecia, a rare disease which caused all his hair to fall off. As a teenager he struggled with depression, and then turned to drama classes to climb out of his protective, somewhat tortured shell.
And then from the age 25 onwards he has just been writing and putting on the most amazing theatre.

There are 3 reasons why I love him and his work to such a ridiculous extent.

Number 1. He is the most exquisite story-teller and I respect this a lot. I think that societies have always been built on the skills of storytelling, from bringing up your kids, to deciding where to build the next village, down to politicians - I mean, it is all storytelling, all of it. And Lepage is so creative and so so imaginative with his storytelling.
Number 2. The way he uses visual stuff (whether it's costume, objects, installations, or other multimedia, and music too actually) is just phenomenal. He just manages to tap into something, to see the core of the story, and then tie it together with something else, so seamless. He believes that theatre was born when the early early humans realised they can manipulate their own shadows and therefore create something "larger than life".
Number 3. He lost all his hair when he was 5. Now then. Let's think about this for one second. All of his hair. Eyebrows, eyelashes. You lose all the hair on your body. Also, having pubic hair is SUCH a rite of passage for boys when growing up. So, he had no hair, at all. And as opposed to let this other-ness consume him he channeled it, to become an absolute visionary theatre-maker. Hats off. Absolutely hats off.

And so, I forget sometimes, how much I truly love his work and what he stands for as a person.
One of his shows, "Playing Cards 1: SPADES", is coming to London in a week or so. And I really want to go see it. I want to go and witness him and his company bring together parts of the world, the current and the forgotten, the lost and the found, the painful and the beautiful, add some absolutely incredible music, and I want to see this. I want to see this and feel this and go, yes, thanks, Robert, for making theatre.

Lepage.
M.

stories

Telling stories.

It's so important.
There's something so simple and so powerful at the same time about telling stories.
About deciding to share that little part of you or share that little bit of imagination, or fact, or whatever with someone else.
Deciding they are worth your special story, or deciding you like them enough to really tell them a story.
Or finding someone who respects you enough to really listen to your story.
So simple it's just crazy, so basic.
But in this basic-ness there's just something absolutely magical.
I don't trust people who underestimate telling stories, or listening to stories.
And I don't only mean fairytales. I mean, what happened to you yesterday, or something your little brother once did, or something your grandfather told you, or something you read, or some lyrics to your favourite song.
This sort of sharing, all of this, is storytelling.

And it is important.
I think that's why I like blogging. It doesn't have a word-limit, and I can just tell my stories.
And sometimes the stories are so good I have to re-tell them to my friends in person, message them, or anything. It's the easiest way of sharing and the easiest way to really get under someone's skin. Sharing your stories.
Your adventures
Your likes, and dislikes
Your favourite animals and colours
Your patterns and structures
Your dreams and schemes

Share.
It is scary but it makes life so much more fun. So much more excitement to find someone who is into the exact same dried autumnal leaf shape. Or like, someone who pairs their socks the same way. Or changes octaves when singing along to a song exactly when you do. Or someone who has the same favourite Monet. Or someone who folds their linen the same. Or someone who holds their fork the same way. Or someone who has the same dreams. Or laughs the same way.

Tell stories, because we base ourselves in this context. The giving storytellers give a little bit of themselves to each story and really root and ground themselves. It's nice to belong to stories because they can't shift and change. If you tell them, they are the way they are. The next one will be different.

So therefore.
Tell
dem
stories
M.

Amelie

I don't know how this always finds its way to me, but this composer's music and I just seem to meet a lot.
You know, like when there's a thing that you just notice, again and again, without seeking it out.
Like when someone's talking about it, or you hear it somewhere, etc.

I love the film pretty whole-heartedly. If you haven't seen it, I really really really recommend it.
Some seriously super-super storytelling.

Composer Yann Tiersen. Awesome human.

Amelie.
M.