Critical Stages (Jun 2019)
When Lepage and Mnouchkine Collide with Cultural Appropriation
Abstract
Two shows mounted by Robert Lepage were cancelled during the summer of 2018, after they were denounced as “cultural appropriation,” mainly by Black people for SLÃV, then by First Nations demonstrators for Kanata. The first play was withdrawn from the programming of the Montreal Jazz Festival after three performances, at the beginning of June, and Kanata, after it had been cancelled by Lepage, was finally reprogrammed by Ariane Mnouchkine in a shorter version, at the Cartoucherie in Paris, starting mid-December 2018.
