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OVERVIEW
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
PREMIERE PRODUCTION INFORMATION
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
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