View more photos below - click here
OVERVIEW
Title: The Enslavement and Liberation of Oksana G.
Composer: Aaron Gervais
Librettist: Colleen Murphy
Commissioned By: Tapestry Opera
Language: Ukrainian, Russian, Italian, English
Producer: Tapestry Opera
Run Time: 125
Roles:
Role | Voice Type | Range ? | Character Description |
---|---|---|---|
Asa | middle-high | A3-A5 | Tarot reader, 32/50 years old |
Sofiya | middle-high | A3-A5 | Oksana's mother, 26/44 years old |
Pavlo | middle | C3-C5 | Oksana and Nataliya's friend, 17 years old |
Konstantin | middle | C3-C5 | A recruiter, 27 years old |
Nataliya | high | C4-C6 | Oksana's best friend, 18 years old |
Oksana G. | high | C4-C#6 | A young woman, coloratura, 18 years old |
Dima | low | F2-F4 | A thug who works with Konstantin, 29 years old |
Yuri | middle-low | F2-F4 | Oksana's father, 27/45 years old |
Lyuba | middle-high | A3-A5 | Befriends Oksana and Nataliya, 23 years old |
Immigration Officer | low | F2-F4 | Immigration officer, 35 years old |
Auctioneer | middle-high | A3-A5 | Auctioneer for trafficked women, 30 years old |
Father Alexander | middle-low | C3-C#5 | Canadian priest, 28 years old |
Clara | middle-high | A3-A5 | Italian Social Worker, 45 years old |
Sami | silent-spoken | silent | Child, silent role |
Chorus | high | various | Various roles |
Children | silent-spoken | silent | Supernumaries |
SYNOPSIS
The Enslavement and Liberation of Oksana G. is a fictional dramatic opera built on extensive factual research. Set in Ukraine in 1997, it is the story of Oksana, a young woman lured into the world of sex trafficking by a Russian recruiter, Konstantin, who unexpectedly falls in love with her. Oksana escapes to a refugee shelter in Brindisi, Italy, where she meets a Canadian priest, Alexander, who helps her heal and regain her strength. When Konstantin breaks into the shelter, Oksana "closes the mouth of a lion," but her heroic action costs her life.
MUSIC DESCRIPTION
The piece is through-composed in a musical language that moves rapidly from quasi-tonality to abstract dissonance, and is scored for a mixed ensemble that includes electric guitar and pre-recorded materials, creating a highly coloristic, timbrally focused sound world.
In order to authentically set the text in Russian and Ukrainian, the composer Aaron Gervais, who does not speak either language, employed a multilayered series of transliterations and translations, including written and recorded materials produced in collaboration with professional translators. The text is set in an essentialist, rapid-fire style that mimics natural speech patterns, rather than employing more conventional operatic patterns, creating a dramatic pacing that was described by critics as breath-taking and action-packed.
SCORES FOR PURCHASE
Arias & Excerpts:
Sofiya and Yuri take their infant daughter Oksana to have her horoscope read by Asa, who predicts that "freedom invades her future."
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Asa | middle-high | B3-D5 |
Sofiya | middle-high | D4-D5 |
Yuri | middle-low | B2-B3 |
Infant Oksana | silent-spoken | Silent |
Though others are at first suspicious, Russian Konstantin convinces Ukranian teenagers Nataliya and Oksana to come work for him at a hotel in Romania for the summer.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Pavlo | middle | D3-E4 |
Konstantin | middle | D3-G4 |
Nataliya | high | D4-G5 |
Oksana | high | D4-A5 |
Sofiya | middle-high | D4-G5 |
Yuri | middle-low | D3-C#4 |
Dima | low | D3-B3 |
Thug #2 | middle-low | B2-B3 |
In a forest in Romania, Oksana discovers she has been tricked and is now in danger. Konstantin and his partners rape Oksana & Natalyia.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Konstantin | middle | D3-A4 |
Oksana | high | D4-C6 |
Sofiya goes to Asa to have her cards read for news of Oksana. The police will not treat Oksana's disappearance as crime, as she went with the men willingly. The cards say Oksana has been robbed of her soul.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Asa | middle-high | Bb3-Ab4 |
Sofiya | middle-high | E4-D5 |
In Greece at a bar, three women are held captive: Konstantin sends Lyubia with a businessman, Natalyia with the Immigration officer who cuts her, and Oksana is bought by Konstantin at auction. Konstantin then offers to the crowd a gang rape just as the police arrive to raid the bar. Instead, he escapes with Oksana and Natalyia.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Natalyia | high | F#4-B5 |
Oksana | high | F4-C6 |
Lyuba | middle-high | A#3-F#5 |
Immigration Officer | middle-low | B2-D#4 |
Konstantin | middle | D3-B4 |
Auctioneer | middle-high | F4-Eb5 |
Businessmen | high | SATB |
Bar patrons | high | SATB |
Buyers | high | SATB |
Pavlo checks in with Sofyia and Yuri for news; Sofiya and Yuri argue & blame each other for letting Oksana go.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Sofiya | middle-high | C4-F5 |
Yuri | middle-low | A2-Eb4 |
Pavlo | middle | F#3 |
On the Albanian coast the women captives wait for the boat to Italy. Oksana is still defiant, trying to figure out an escape for herself and others. The boat and Konstantin arrive, and Oksana fails to convince him to free her and Natalyia.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Oksana | high | E4-A5 |
Lyuba | middle-high | |
Konstantin | middle | C3-A4 |
Immigration Officer | middle-low | Eb3-F3 |
Italian Boatman | silent-spoken | Spoken |
Other captive Ukranian women | high | Chorus |
Brindisi refugee shelter: Father Alexander and social worker Clara work with the refugees. An injured Oksana arrives and asks for help; Lyubia, who escaped when the boat docked, is among the refugees and recognizes Oksana.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Father Alexander | middle-low | F3-D#4 |
Clara | middle-high | D4-C5 |
Oksana | high | C4-G5 |
Lyuba | middle-high | D4-E5 |
Sami | silent-spoken | Silent |
3 other Refugee children | silent-spoken | SIlent |
Refugee adults | silent-spoken | Silent |
Asa and Sofiya are checking the cards. Pavlo arrives with the news that a priest called from Italy to say that Oksana is alive, but there is no sign of Natalyia.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Asa | middle-high | A3-A4 |
Sofiya | middle-high | B4-F#5 |
Pavlo | middle | F#3-F#4 |
Screaming, Oksana awakens from a nightmare; Father Alexander comes to her and she admits she may have let Natalyia drown to save herself. The Father counsels forgiveness of herself and others, but Oksana is not convinced that is possible.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Oksana | high | C#4-G#5 |
Father Alexander | middle-low | Eb3-F#4 |
Dima has found Oksana at the refuge, and shows Konstantin a photograph of her as proof.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Konstantin | middle | C3-G4 |
Dima | low | Bb2-D4 |
Father Alexander and Oksana realize they share an attraction for each other, but Oksana is determined to go home and tell her parents what has happened. Konstantin phones the refuge to get Oksana back.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Father Alexander | middle-low | D3-Ab4 |
Clara | middle-high | A3-C5 |
Oksana | high | C4-Ab5 |
Lyuba | middle-high | G4-Bb4 |
Sami & other refugee children & adults | silent-spoken | Silent |
Refugees are trying on clothes, when Dima and Konstantin enter looking for Oksana. Konstantin offers Father Alexander money for Oksana and Clara calls the police; Konstantin and Dima leave before the police arrive.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Clara | middle-high | G4-E5 |
Lyuba | middle-high | G#4-B4 |
Father Alexander | middle-low | D#3-Bb4 |
Dima | low | D3-A3 |
Konstantin | middle | E3-A4 |
Oksana | high | E5-Bb5 |
Refugees | high | Chorus |
Pavlo reads Oksana's letter to her parents telling them she'll be home on November 8, her birthday. They are thrilled, and get carried away planning a party for her.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Pavlo | middle | D3-E4 |
Sofiya | middle-high | Db4-G5 |
Yuri | middle-low | D3-E4 |
On the eve of Oksana's departure, Father Alexander has to go to pick up another woman in distress. He leaves his knife with Oksana because she is afraid Konstantin will show up. Lyuba and Oksana say their goodbyes.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Oskana | high | D4-Bb5 |
Father Alexander | middle-low | Db3-G#4 |
Lyuba | middle-high | B3-E5 |
Father Alexander discovers the distress call was a set by Konstantin, but Dima decides he can't beat up a priest and lets Father Alexander go back to Brindisi where Konstantin is.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Father Alexander | middle-low | D#3-F#4 |
Dima | low | C#3-E4 |
Thug #2 | silent-spoken | Silent |
Konstantin breaks into Oksana's room and tries to convince her to leave with him. When this fails, he tries to rape her again but she stabs him. He gets the knife and stabs her before he dies. Father Alexander returns and Oksana dies of her wound, dreaming of home.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Oksana | high | C#4-C#6 |
Konstantin | middle | C#3-A4 |
Father Alexander | middle-low | E3-C#5 |
Clara | middle-high | G4-E5 |
Sofiya and Yuri consult Asa when Oksana has not arrived as her lettered promised. They are interrupted by Pavlo with news that the priest from Italy is on the phone, and wants to talk to Oksana's parents.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Sofiya | middle-high | E4-E5 |
Yuri | middle-low | D#3-G3 |
Asa | middle-high | A3-C#5 |
Pavlo | middle | G3-D4 |
PREMIERE PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Premiere Production: May 24 - 20, 2017 at Imperial Oil Opera Theatre, Toronto ON
Producers: Tapestry Opera
Cast:
Role | Name |
---|---|
Oksana | Natalya Gennadi |
Konstantin | Keith Klassen |
Father Alexander | Adam Fisher |
Sofiya | Krisztina Szabo |
Asa | Kimberly Barber |
Pavlo | Aaron Sheppard |
Nataliya | Jacqueline Woodley |
Yuri | Alex Hajek |
Lyuba | Andrea Ludwig |
Clara | Maria Soulis |
Dima | Neil Craighead |
Auctioneer | Cairan Ryan |
Immigration Officer | Erica Iris Huang |
Ukrainian girl (Nadia) | Hillary Tufford |
Ukrainian girl (Delia) | Rebecca Gray |
Ukrainian girl (Mila) | Natalie Mitchell |
Ukrainian girl (Radostina) | Alex Hetherington |
Ukrainian girl (Adina) | Gabrielle French |
Ukrainian girl, Trafficked girl (Mirna) | Meghan Symon |
Romanian buyer | Gwenna Fairchild-Taylor |
Albanian buyer | Susan Sherman |
Refugee in shelter | Yujene Oh |
Italian buyer, Auctioneer cover | Victoria Marshall |
Albanian buyer | Marlo Alcock |
Russian buyer | David Walsh |
American buyer | Michael McLean |
Boatman, German buyer | Patrick Bowman |
UN Peacekeeper buyer | Danlie Rae Acebuque |
Bartender and DJ at auction | Lucas Penner |
British UN Peacekeeper buyer | Alex Jacob Mathews |
Bodyguard at Auction | Thomas Krasey |
Greek buyer | Paul Buchanan |
Sami | Jesse Kline |
Child Super | Sydney Rasmussen |
Super | Paul Ciantar |
Super | Jason Pilgrim |
Super | Raif Morton |
Role | Name |
---|---|
Director | Tom Diamond |
Musical Director | Jordan de Souza |
Producer | Jaime Martino |
Set & Costume Designer | Teresa Przybylski |
Assistant Designer | Sylvia Defend |
Lighting Designer | Jason Hand |
Production Manager | Aidan Cosgrave |
Stage Manager | Isolde Pleasants-Faulkner |
Assistant Stage Manager | Melania Radelicki |
Apprentice Stage Manager | Anna Spencer |
Apprentice Stage Manager | Jordan Guetter |
Rehearsal Pianist | Gregory Oh |
Head of Props | David Hoekstra |
Fight Choreographer | James Binkley |
Language Coach | Katherine Semsecen |
Surtitles Creation | Gunta Dreifelds |
Libretto Translation | Lyuba Smygol |
CREATION
AWARDS
Nominated at the 2018 Dora Mavor Moore Awards:
Best Production
Best New Musical/Opera - Aaron Gervais and Colleen Murphy
Musical Direction - Jordan de Souza
Lighting Design - Jason Hand
Costume Design - Teresa Przybylski
Performance - Ensemble
Performance - Natalya Gennadi
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
MEDIA
There are no reviews yet. Be the first one to write one.
REVIEW THIS OPERA
You must be logged in to submit a review.
Submit a Suggestion
Please Note: As we try our best to ensure that all the data on this page is correct please understand that these pages were built by humans, so we're bound to make mistakes. Let us know if you have found any errors, typos, or mistakes on this page. If you have any suggestions on adding tags to this page, please use this email link as well. Thank you, your help and contribution are appreciated.