Sankofa:
The Soldier's Tale Retold

October 24-27, 2024

harbourfront centre theatre, Toronto

Sankofa: The Soldier’s Tale Retold reimagines Igor Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat in a new libretto by poet Titilope Sonuga. Through the journey of a fictional soldier attempting to enlist in WWI, this Soldier's Tale is set against the historical context of the No. 2 Construction Battalion — the only Canadian battalion composed of Black soldiers to serve in the First World War. In a psychological battle with the devil on the road to enlisting, the soldier embodies the battalion’s resilience and enduring struggle against racism, discrimination and historical erasure. Like the symbol of the Sankofa bird from which this story draws its name (a word in the Twi language of Ghana which means to go back and retrieve what was forgotten), this work blends past and future as the rhythm of Sonuga's poetry weaves through Stravinsky's original music. Sankofa is an invitation to honour a difficult history while moving toward a more promising future.

🎥 Sankofa: The Soldier’s Tale Retold

Music by Igor Stravinsky
Libretto by Titilope Sonuga
Directed by Tawiah M’Carthy
Conducted by Andrew Burashko

Olaoluwa Fayokun, Soldier
Diego Matamoros, Devil
Ordena Stephens-Thompson, Narrator

Graham Lumsden, Trumpet
Ken Kagawa, Trombone
Ann Murdocca, Clarinet
Wolfgang Scheitinger, Bassoon
Julia Mirzoev, Violin
Cameron Breiter, Double Bass
Andrew Busch, Percussion

Kevin Lamotte, Lighting Designer
Des’ree Gray, Costume Designer
John Gzowski, Sound Designer
Pulga Muchochoma, Choreographer
Naomi Onah, Assistant Costume Designer
Arwen MacDonell, Stage Manager
Emily Cornelius, Apprentice Stage Manager
Aden C. Altamirano, Production Manager
A.J. Morra, Production Manager
Bryn Kennedy, Marketing and Outreach

Sankofa: The Soldier’s Tale…..(2026) - Recording

Best of Words & Music

May 9-11, 2019

harbourfront centre theatre, Toronto

Celebrating 20 years of words and music. Scenes from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing  were presented alongside music by Erich Korngold; Ophelia’s Mad Scene from Hamlet was paired with Jake Heggie’s lieder for soprano. Richard Greenblatt and Reza Jacobs performed excerpts from the smash hit 2 Pianos 4 Hands, Margaret Atwood’s series of poems Thriller Suite was set to original music, and Martha Burns, Gregory Hoskins, Rick Roberts gave performances that blurred the lines between poetry, music and theatre.

A History of Western Music: Chapter 29, August Kleinzhaler
Kristen Thomson reader

🎥 I Thought About You, Johnny Mercer & Jimmy Van Heusen
Gregory Hoskins singer, Joseph Phillips bass, Rob Piltch guitar

🎥 Thriller Suite
Poetry by Margaret Atwood
Original music by Dan Parr
Kristen Thomson reader, Andrew Burashko piano, Yolanda Bruno violin, Mary-Katherine Finch cello, Peter Lutek woodwinds, Joseph Phillips bass, Tony Zorzi guitar

🎥 Scene from Fire, David S. Young & Paul Ledoux
Rick Roberts actor, Mike Ross actor

🎥 Songs and Sonnets to Ophelia , Jake Heggie/Ophelia’s Mad Scene, William Shakespeare
i. Ophelia's Song
ii. Women have loved before
iii. Not in a silver casket
Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5
iv. Spring
Isabel Bayrakdarian soprano, Andrew Burashko piano, Natasha Mumba actor, Ravi Jain director


INTERMISSION

🎥 Sonata Erotica, Erwin Schulhoff
Martha Burns actor

🎥 Excerpt from 2 Pianos 4 Hands, Ted Dykstra & Richard Greenblatt
Richard Greenblatt actor, Reza Jacobs actor

🎥 Much Ado About Nothing, Erich Korngold
Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare
i. Maiden in the Bridal Chamber
Act 1, Scene 1
ii. March of the Watch (Dogberry and Verges)
Act 4, Scene 5
iii. Garden Scene
Act 5, Scene 2
iv. Hornpipe
Martha Burns actor, Paul Gross actor, Yolanda Bruno violin, Andrew Burashko piano

Arun Srinivasan, lighting designer
Arwen MacDonell, stage manager

Words & Music (2008) - Toronto, ON

Shakespeare: If Music Be… (2010) - Toronto, ON

The Poem/The Song (2014) - Toronto, ON

Erwin Schulhoff (2016) - Toronto, ON

That’s Not Funny (2016) - Toronto, ON

I Send You This Cadmium Red

March 20-21, 2019

mcmaster university, hamilton, ON

“I Send You This Cadmium Red is a film, a painting, an essay, a concert and, yes, a play all at once. Therefore none of the above. It’s something else entirely. And it’s extraordinary. It’s a contemplation of colour via words, music, words and projected animation. Colour is explored as a substance, a medium, a mood, an opaque fact and a window into infinity, but also as something tangible, almost human. And I can’t remember the last time I saw a play or a film in which the inevitable apartheid between form and content, style and substance, was so elegantly obliterated by a piece that is so utterly what it’s about.” Brian D. Johnson, Mcleans Magazine.

With music by Gavin Bryars and animation by Bruce Alcock, I Send You This Cadmium Red, (based on a correspondence between writer/critic/artist John Berger and filmmaker/artist John Christie) was conceived and adapted for the stage by Andrew Burashko and directed by Daniel Brooks. This was a remount of a 2011 CanStage/Art of Time co-production.

🎥 I Send You This Cadmium Red ( 45 second promo)

🎥 I Send You This Cadmium Red (4 minute promo)

🎥 Full Performance

I Send You This Cadmium Red
Text by John Berger and John Christie
Music by Gavin Bryars

Animation and Set Design, Bruce Alcock
Directed by Daniel Brooks

Julian Richings actor, Alon Nashman actor, Andrew Burashko conductor, Joseph Phillips bass, Rob Carli clarinet, Sheila Jaffe violin, Rob Pitch guitar, Rachel Pomedli cello

Kevin Lamotte, lighting designer
Sarah Miller, stage manager

I Send You This Cadmium Red (2011) - Toronto, ON

I Send You This Cadmium Red (2014) - Toronto, ON

I Send You This Cadmium Red

April 9-12, 2014

harbourfront centre theatre, toronto

Unprecedented and engaging, I Send You This Cadmium Red is at once a feast for and exploration of the senses. Under the direction of Daniel Brooks and the baton of Andrew Burashko, music, theatre, and stunning animation by Vancouver animator Bruce Alcock merged to kaleidoscopic effect, which Brian D. Johnson of Maclean's Magazine remarked, "...is a film, a painting, an essay, a concert - and yes, a play - all at once. Therefore none of the above. It's something else entirely. And it's extraordinary." 

Deemed "Top 11 of 2011" by The Globe & Mail, this production is based on the correspondence between artist John Christie and Booker prize winning author John Berger and underscored by the music of Gavin Bryars. 

John Berger, writer
John Christie, writer
Gavin Bryars, composer
Bruce Alcock, set & imagery
Daniel Brooks, director
Andrew Burashko, originator/artistic director/musical director

John Fitzgerald Jay, actor
Julia Richings, actor

Carolyn Blackwell, viola
Robert Carli, bass clarinet
Joseph Phillips, bass
Rob Piltch, guitar
Andrew Burashko, musical director

Kevin Lamotte, lighting designer
David DeGrow, design assistant
Shanna Miller, production manager
Maureen Callaghan, stage manager
Ariel Martin Smith, assistant stage manager

Photos by John Lauener

I Send You This Cadmium Red (2011) - Toronto, ON
I Send You This Cadmium Red (2019) - Toronto, ON

War of the Worlds

October 30-November 4, 2012

harbourfront centre theatre, toronto

Sean Cullen (The Producers) joined Nicholas Campbell (Da Vinci's Inquest) and Marc Bendavid (The Border) in the return of the sold-out 2011 production of the play based on Orson Welles' infamous radio broadcast. The all-star cast was accompanied by an on-stage radio orchestra led by Andrew Burashko, and live Foley sound effects artist John Gzowski. This fascinating, behind-the-scenes play remains chilling enough to cause Margaret Atwood to tweet "Brilliant! Not 2 miss!"   

Also on the bill, was Herrmannthology, a suite based on the scores penned by the legendary film composer Bernard Herrmann. From Citizen Kane to Taxi Driver, Psycho to Cape Fear, and Vertigo to North by Northwest, Herrmann's dramatic themes were performed by an ensemble and accompanied by Tess Girard's live montage of the brilliant films they underscored.

🔈 Introduction, Andrew Burashko

PART I

🔈 Herrmannthology, Bernard Herrmann
arr. by Dan Parr
live film mix by Tess Girard
Les Allt flute, Roslyn Black french horn, Andrew Burashko conductor, Max Christie clarinet, Ben Cruchley piano, John Johnson saxophone, Al Kay trombone, Peter Pavlovsky double bass, Kevin Turcotte trumpet, Trevor Tureski percussion

The Films:
Citizen Kane
North by Northwest
Taxi Driver
Psycho
Fahrenheit 451
Cape Fear
The Day The Earth Stood Still
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Mysterious Island
The Twilight Zone
Garden of Evil
The Naked and The Dead
The Bride Wore Black
The Ghost & Mrs. Muir
On Dangerous Ground
Sisters Twisted Nerve
Vertigo

PART II

🔈 The War of The Worlds (Entire), Howard Koch
Marc Bendavid actor, Nicholas Campbell actor, Sean Cullen actor, John Gzowski foley, Andrew Burashko conductor, Ben Cruchley piano, John Johnson saxophone, Peter Pavlovsky bass, Kevin Turcotte trumpet, Trevor Tureski drums

The Music:
Polonaise in A Major, Op. 40 #1, Frederic Chopin
La Paloma, Sebastian Iradier
La Cumparsita, Geraldo Matos Roderiguez
Stardust, Hoagy Carmichael
Fantasie Impromptu in C Sharp Minor, Op. posth. 66, Frederic Chopin
Out of Nowhere, Johnny Greene & Edward Heyman
Waltz in G Flat Major, Op. 70, #1, Frederic Chopin
Etude in A Flat Major, Op. 25, #1, Frederic Chopin
Original Underscoring, Dan Parr

Andrew Burashko, Director
Chris Stanton, Assistant Director
Beth Kates, Set, Lighting & Costume Designer
Monika Seiler, Stage Manager
Alistair Hepburn, Production Manager
David Hoekstra, Props
Jennifer Lennon, Assistant Lighting Designer
Maureen Callaghan, Apprentice Stage Manager
Kat Misztal-McCubbing, Head of Wardrobe
Rhonda Webb/RW Creative, Hair

All photos by John Lauener

War of the World (2011) - Toronto, ON

I Send You This Cadmium Red

Canadian stage co-production

October 10-22, 2011

Berkley Street Theatre, toronto

Unprecedented and engaging, aesthetically stunning and intellectually enlightening, I Send You This Cadmium Red both explores new 'ways of seeing' and provides a key to understanding the work of writer/critic/artist John Berger and filmmaker/artist John Christie. Developed for the stage based on a BBC radio play, it was paired by Soudain L'hiver Dernier, a duet choreographed for two men by James Kudelka with music by Gavin Bryars.

Soudain L’Hiver Dernier
Choreography by James Kudelka
Music (Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet) by Gavin Bryars

Michael Sean Marye & Luke Garwood dancers (1st cast) Andrew Giday & Ryan Boorne, dancer s (2nd cast) , Rebekah Wolkstein violin, Carolyn Blackwell violin, Douglas Perry viola, Peter Cosbey cello, Brian Baty bass

INTERMISSION

🎥 I Send You This Cadmium Red (promo)

🎥 I Send You This Cadmium Red (performance)

I Send You This Cadmium Red
Text by John Berger and John Christie
Music by Gavin Bryars

Julian Richings actor, John Fitzgerald Jay actor, Andrew Burashko conductor, Brian Baty bass, Lewis Gilmore clarinet, Douglas Perry viola, Rob Pitch guitar 

Daniel Brooks, director
Bruce Alcock, stage designer/animator
Pierre Lavoie, lighting designer (Soudain L’Hiver…)
Glenn Davidson, lighting designer (I Send You This…)
Monika Seiler, stage manager

I Send You This Cadmium Red (2014)

I Send You This Cadmium Red (2019)