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plinary production company. Ex Machina, in 1994. Under his artistic direction, this new team produced a steady output of plays, beginning with The Seven Streams of the River Ota (1994), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1995) and a solo production, Elsinore (1995), In 1994, he made his début in the world of cinema. He wrote and directed his first feature film. Le Confessional, which appeared the following year at the Cannes Festival Directors'Fortnight. He went on to direct The Polygraph in 1996, Nô in 1997, Possible Worlds in 2000 (his firstfeature film written in English), and finally, in 2003, a film adaptation of his play The Far Side of the Moon. The Caserne, a multidisciplinary production centre in Quebec City, opened in 1997 under Robert Lepage's leadership. In their new quarters he and his team created and produced Geometry of Miracles (1998), Zulu Time (1999), The Far Side of The Moon (2000), La Casa Azul (2001), The Busker's Opera (2004), a new version of The Dragons'Trilogy with a new cast (2003), and 1984, an opera based on the novel by George Orwell, composed and conducted by Lorin Maazel (2005).This was followed by The Andersen Project (2005), Lipsynch (2007), The Rake's Progress by Igor Stravinsky, which premiered at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels in April, 2007 and Ex Machina's new production The Blue Dragon (2008). Robert Lepage is often asked to turn his creative hand to newfields. His staging of Bluebeard's Castle and Erwartung as a double opera bill were an instant hit in 1992, and the following year he directed Peter Gabriel's Secret World Tour. He returned to the world of song with The Damnation of Faust in Japan (1999) and Paris (2001,2004 and 2006), and in 2000 he was involved in producing Métissages, an exhibition at the Musée de la civilisation in Quebec City. In 2002 he joined forces with Peter Gabriel again to direct Growing Up Tour. He later designed and directed KA, a permanent Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas, which premiered in February, 2005. In 2008. for Quebec City's 400th anniversary, Robert Lepage and Ex Machina created the largest architectural projection ever achieved: The Image Mill. Robert Lepage's work has been recognized by many awards. Among the most important was the medal of the Officers of the Ordre national du Quebec in 1999. In September, 2000, he was given the SORIQ Award (La Société des relations internationales de Québec) for the impact of his work outside Quebec. In October, 2001, he was recognized by the World Leaders Association of Harbourfront Centre, once again in honour of the international scope of his career. In 2002, France received him into the Légion d'honneur, the Quebec Chamber of Commerce named him "Grand Québécois", and he won the Herbert Whittaker Drama Bench Award for his outstanding contribution to Canadian theatre. The following year he won the Denise Pelletier Prize, the highest distinction awarded by the Quebec government in the performing arts field, as well as the National Theatre School's Gascon Thomas Award. In 2004 he was awarded the Hans Christian Anderson Prize for his outstanding artistic contribution to honouring Hans Christian Andersen worldwide, in 2005 he received the institut France-Canada's Samuel de Champlain Prize for his contribution to French culture and the Stanislavski Award for his contribution to international theatre and the dissemination of his productions The Dragon's Trilogy, The Seven Streams of the River Ota and The Busker's Opera. In 2007, the Festival de l'Union des Théâtres de l'Europe honoured him with the distinguished Prix Europe, previously awarded to Ariane Mnouchkine and Bob Wilson among others. The production of The Far Side of the Moon has been recognized a Golden Mask

THE BLUE DRAGON