Lepage's space discovery

Lepage enthralls the audience in his one-man show

By BBC News Online's Steve Schifferes

Robert Lepage gives an astonishing performance in his multi-media show The Far Side of Moon in rep at the Royal National Theatre.

The Canadian director stars in his own production - and is on stage continuously for two hours in a one-man show, playing a multitude of roles and using simple props to tell a moving story.

Mr Lepage uses music, dance, video installations, newsreel footage and puppets to tell his story, as well as a washing machine that doubles as a space capsule and an ironing board that becomes an exercise machine.

Its theme is the exploration of space, with the title referring to the part of the moon that is never seen from earth.

The tale ostensibly revolves around the relationship between two brothers, one a gay weatherman, and the other a 42-year-old academic who is still trying to finish his PhD on the "cultural influence of space exploration".

Lepage examines the Russian/US space race

But it is really about ourselves, and how the exploration of space symbolises our attempt to soar beyond the material and find our inner, spiritual heart.

The play opens with a mirror facing the audience, with Mr Lepage claiming that narcissism was the driving force behind the space race.

As a Canadian, Mr Lepage has an amusing time with the two space powers - the USA and Russia - as they compete for the ultimate prize - the moon landing.

The academic brother is a great admirer of the Russian space effort, and tries again and again to meet Russian cosmonauts - a character played by Mr Lepage using a dress stand.

Mr Lepage has an acute ear - and eye - for transforming the mundane into the profound, and his use of a mini video camera set at different places on the stage gives an eerie feel to ordinary events.

He also astounds in his ability to shift from one scene to another, and to create a mood - of debate, despair, or argument - despite being the only person on stage.

Mr Lepage is also a brilliant mime, whose non-verbal communication can be both funny (as in the exercise room) and profound (as in the final, silent scene).

He is well served by his stage designer and music director Laurie Anderson, whose haunting score permeates his silent solos.

In his previous London production, the Seven Streams of the River Ota, Mr Lepage recreated the history of the 20th Century through the eyes of seven characters ranging from a concentration camp survivor to a victim of Hiroshima.

Now he has done the same for space, in which, as his character points out, transforms 'chaos' into 'cosmos' - which means order or beauty.

Far Side of the Moon continues at the Lyttleton Theatre of the Royal National until July 21