This article demonstrates the existence of a strong aesthetic kinship between the mise en scène of Robert Lepage and the representational mode of the classical Japanese rock garden. In order to elicit the creative participation of an active spectator, both use such Zen techniques as a radical reduction of scale, or shukukei (miniature landscape); minimalistic material metaphors, or mitate (metaphoric representation); and an asymmetrical, fragmented style, or fusuma-e (fragmented scene). Drawing on the theory and practice of Japanese rock gardening, this article introduces a new critical vocabulary for describing the representational logic, and enlightening effects, of Lepage's approach to ‘setting up stones’ on the stage in Seven Streams of the River Ota and other works.