Robert Lepage’s ‘Ring des Nibelungen’ at the Met

Robert Lepage is big on illusion. He’s a director, actor, playwright and filmmaker from Quebec. He’s directed operas, puppet theater and even two Cirque du Soleil productions.

A few years ago, New York’s Metropolitan Opera asked Lepage to design and direct a new production of Richard Wagner’s four-part opera, “The Ring of the Nibelung.”

It turned out to be the most ambitious, expensive and perhaps riskiest production the Met has ever put on. In fact, they had to use stunt doubles for the first time.

As the Met was wrapping up its first run of Lepage’s 15-hour Ring cycle, The World’s Adeline Sire met with Lepage at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was awarded the prestigious Eugene McDermott award.

New York’s Metropolitan Opera just ended its first run of a brand new “Ring” cycle. Several years ago, the Met asked visionary playwright and theater director Robert Lepage to produce Wagner’s epic four-part “Ring of the Nibelungen.”