In 35 years, Lucie Bazzo has designed the lighting for an impressive number of theater and dance performances. I wanted to meet her. She was obviously surprised. It must be said that for the one who deals brilliantly with the light, the shadow is the zone in which he prefers to dwell.
Posted at 1:43 am. Updated at 7:15am.
The idea for this interview came to me because this designer, well known in the art world, is once again associated with a creation by Robert Lepage. With Le projet Riopelle, shown by Duceppe, she is happy to find the man who, thanks to two river shows, took her first steps at the end of the 1980s.
“It started off very strong for me,” she tells me at Café Bloom in Pointe-Saint-Charles, the neighborhood she adopted long ago. You could say I learned on the job. »
At the time, Lucie Bazzo had just graduated from the Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Québec, where she graduated with degrees in stage, costume and prop design. But with the desire to make lights, she leaves the institution.
Robert Lepage noticed his talent during the conservatory’s final show and asked him to work with him on the six-hour version of his famous Dragons trilogy, which opened in June 1987 at Hangar No. Port as part of the Theater Festival of the Americas (FTA). “He was just about to play Vinci [au Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal] and he came towards us to determine the lighting intensities,” recalls Lucie Bazzo.
PHOTO DANNY TAILLON PROVIDED BY DUCEPPE
A scene from the Riopelle project
This show is a life changing experience. “It was my school. I made mistakes. I got home at 8am, picked things up and hung them up. I learned a lot. »
She then proceeded to create Tectonic Plates, an exhibition presented in March 1990 at the Jean Talon station, a place that was closed at the time. She then became a specialist in non-theatrical locations.
She also discovered the world of dance. Many choreographers visited her in the following years: Jocelyne Montpetit, Harold Rhéaume, José Navas, Ginette Laurin, Benoît Lachambre and many others.
Overall, Lucie Bazzo created the lighting for 55 theater productions and 35 dance performances. These experiences were, for the most part, fabulous moments of creation. But she also had bad experiences. “I wasn’t often angry, but sometimes it happened because it was a misunderstanding on my part or the creator’s. I remember a show with a choreographer. I didn’t know where to go. She had someone else fix the lights. I just planted myself. »
For fifteen years, Lucie Bazzo and Robert Lepage walked parallel paths. They reunited with Quills in 2016, then SLĀV and Kanata in 2018. “Yes, I experienced both of these times of crisis,” she says contentedly with a grin. Remember that activists have criticized Robert Lepage for demonstrating cultural appropriation and a lack of diversity in these productions.
I’ve always been fascinated by how the designers (sets, costumes, lighting) fit into the director’s approach. How does the mayonnaise rise?
Dialogue between designers is key, she says. It has to merge. Lighting can destroy costumes. If you put the wrong blue on a black suit, it turns brown.
Lucie Bazzo
And then there is the technical aspect. Lucie Bazzo begins by describing the technologies available to lighting designers today. She’ll lose me in ten seconds. “I made plans by hand for a long time. Creative residencies that allow us to try things in the theater came late. Now there are software programs that allow us to see things. »
Bazzos, there aren’t that many in Montreal. You may have guessed that Lucie is the sister of Marie-France, the radio and television lady. Her father, of Italian origin, was a docker in the port of Montreal. He married her mother, a Quebecois who taught sewing.
Our parents wanted us to do freelance work. My sister and I initially studied fine arts. They had concerns, but they trusted us. My sister then studied sociology and I studied theater.
Lucie Bazzo
From this training onwards, Lucie Bazzo has retained a sense of versatility. In addition to lighting, she dedicates herself to photography, a medium for which light plays an essential role. Armed with her mobile phone, she likes to immortalize pictures from the city and the night.
During the pandemic, she roamed near grocery stores on her bike. “That was the only thing that was open,” she said. She also produced a series on the theme of “Parking Sheds”. I showed some confusion about the beauty of these places. “On the contrary,” she said. There’s incredible poetry in there. These cabins each have their own personality. But they gradually disappear. »
During the Phénomena festival, you may have noticed these 3D model paintings that can be seen in shop windows. They are the work of Lucie Bazzo. “These are glowing mini sets. I add one or two a year. »
Before leaving her, I told her about my surprise that with her rich experience she does not teach the basics of lighting in theater schools. “I’ve always had impostor syndrome. I’m not very pedagogical. Then how do I teach something I’m still learning? »
The Riopelle project will be presented at the Duceppe Theater until June 11th. All tickets are available for the performances.