Needles and Opium

Wellesley Robertson III in Needles and Opium. Photo by Nicola-Frank Vachon.

Twenty years after its first staging, a new production and English language premiere of Robert Lepage's Needles and Opium opened last night at the Bluma Appel Theatre in the St. Lawrence Centre for the Performing Arts as part of Canadian Stage's 2013/14 season. Written and directed by Lepage, the visually mesmerizing play is a layered exploration of the relationships between displacement, drug addiction and creativity, presented as a series of vignettes comparing the lives of Parisian poet/filmmaker Jean Cocteau on a visit to New York City in 1949, and American jazz legend Miles Davis during his stay in Paris in the same year.

Marc Labrèche reprises his leading role as the opium-loving Cocteau, and Wellesley Robertson III joins this production as the heroin-addicted Davis. Labrèche also plays the part of a broken-hearted man staying at the Hotel La Louisiane in Paris (where Davis had an affair with bohemian artist Juliette Greco 40 years earlier). The show contains excerpts from Cocteau's A Letter to Americans read aloud as the author flies (literally suspended above the stage) to and from New York, as well as words from his book Opium: The Diary of His Cure, lending literary context to this highly image-based work.

Featuring a remarkable rotating cube-shaped set by Carl Fillion and striking black-and-white video projections by Lionel Arnould, the piece fits together like a dynamic puzzle, as the performers move in and out of scenes through disappearing doors and passageways. Complemented by Bruno Matte's illusory lighting design, and the heady tones of Davis' trumpet, Needles and Opium is truly an unforgettable viewing experience. Visual highlights include a scene where Davis slips vertically downstage into Greco's bubble bath; another sequence in which he succumbs to substance-fuelled oblivion, pawning his instrument for a fix; and a hazy Life magazine photoshoot with Cocteau.

Lepage gets excellent performances out of both leads, although some English audience members may find it difficult to understand Labrèche's exaggerated Parisian accent as Cocteau. His portrayal of the lonely Québécois voice actor in Paris, however, is deeply emotional and humourous, ultimately serving as the relatable everyman in this intellectual study of artistic anguish.

Needles and Opium runs until December 1 at the Bluma Appel Theatre. Visit canadianstage.com for more information and to buy tickets.

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