Review: The Blue Dragon

The past year has been a frenetic pace of activity for Quebec artist extraordinaire, Robert Lepage. The actor, writer, playwright, and director of both film and stage, unveiled Cirque de Soleil’s critically acclaimed touring show, Totem, a staging of Wagner’s Ring Cycle at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and closer to home, opened The Blue Dragon in our fair Hogtown.

The Blue Dragon, directed and co-written by Lepage, is a spinoff of sorts, of 1985’s The Dragons’ Trilogy, which garnered him an international reputation as a theatrical wunderkind. The story reconnects with Quebecer, Pierre Lamontagne, a central character in Dragons’ Trilogy. Twenty years later, Lamontagne is a quondam artist, now residing in the bustling metropolis that is Shanghai as a gallery owner. He is visited by ex-wife Claire (played by Marie Michaud, who co-authored both Trilogy and The Blue Dragon) an alcoholic ad executive who has come to China with the express purpose of procuring a baby. The dynamic shifts, when she unwittingly befriends Xiao Ling (Tai Wei Foo), a promising young artist who likewise happens to be Pierre’s lover. Despite the possibility for such a plot to unravel into a sordid love triangle burgeoning on the soap operaesque, blessedly The Blue Dragon resolves itself with intelligence, humor, and three potential endings to boot.

Undeniably, Lepage is a theatrical visionary, dare it be said, a theatrical genius. Coupled with a set design by Michel Gauthier, The Blue Dragon is both visually arresting, and oft times, technically astounding. In essence, it bears the unmistakable mark of a Lepage production -- definitely a must-see.

The Blue Dragon at Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King Street West until February 19, 2012. For ticket info, call (416) 872-1212, or visit www.mirvish.com/shows/thebluedragon.