Robert Lepage

People think that it is negative, but in fact, chaos can be very fertile.

Chaos is a good thing.

Opera needs a major makeover; the large opera houses are too in thrall to their conservative patrons.

I need to have many things cooking at the same time.

I like doing very small, intimate things in the morning and then, in the afternoon, to be working on something in a big stadium.

The same critics who destroyed 'Seven Streams' when we opened in Edinburgh - and yes, it was horrible - called it one of the most important shows of the 21st century six years later in London.

I will always demand the right for theatre to talk about anything and anyone. Without exception. None.

A show is good when there is a meeting of time and space, when time and space become irrelevant.

My taste comes from when I was 12 years old and saw Genesis or Laurie Anderson or some performance artist who had put paint on himself. I've seen a lot of theater, but that's not what woke up my taste to become a director; nontheatrical things were much more theatrical than the theater I was seeing.

For me, theater will always be very, very much alive, but not necessarily in the theatrical tradition.

I'm a follower of people not necessarily connected with the theater.

I'm not good at doing show business; I'm a theatre person. I don't reveal anything about my life.

I'm not good at entertainment. I don't give myself to all the interviews, game shows, or talk shows.

Everybody loves Vegas, and everybody puts it down, especially intellectuals and artists. We have to rub our feet on it, but we're all secretly thrilled to be there.

Vegas is a testing ground for the human soul. What are our values, especially in a time of crisis? Work with Cirque du Soleil, and you learn that quickly. The former socialist street performers who now throw parties by the pool with Brazilian models, oh yes!

In Las Vegas, you confront yourself with your darkest desires, because they're all possible there.

I was a privileged observer to be there when Celine Dion opened at Caesars Palace and then the second Gulf War started. It was an odd thing to see the impact both events had on Vegas. The place was riding high after Celine, but overnight, once war was declared, it was deserted.

A lot of people hated every moment of my 'Ring.' And a lot of people who had never been to an opera bought subscriptions to the next season.

Theatre is different. We can spend two weeks around a table talking about subtext. In opera, there is a score, and people already know their parts. And they move differently. I find all this liberating.

I had been warned by other directors that opera is hell. The singers don't want to do what you want.