Cast & Crew
Produced by Sanctuary: Playwrights Theatre
Directed by Ian Belton
Libretto & Lyrics by Ruth Margraff
Composed & Concept by Nikos Brisco
Dramaturgy by Donna Linderman
Musicians:
Nikos Brisco: gypsy guitar, mainland lauto, bouzouki, tzouras, baglama, etc.
Rami El-Aasser: dumbek, riq, frame drums, etc.
Ron Riley: guitar, tzouras, mainland laouto
Ruth Margraff: accordion, Cretan lyra
Synopsis
Songs from Act I of a new Greek/Ottoman-inspired folk opera. A story of three brothers... Two from the same father slain in the failed rebellions of occupied Crete before 1889. One carved with the dagger when they were boys, who grows up to be a Turkish pasha at the end of the Ottoman Empire. Set in the Greek blues of a mythic taverna on the highly prized Island of Crete, that has lain, fatally, for thousands of years, in the coveted passageway between the Balkans, Asia Minor and the Mediterranean Basin. The story will be told in songs that fuse the traditional tone and instruments of the region with sinuous modern vocal harmonies and Ruth Margraff’s brilliant words.
Made possible in part through a Sanctuary Theater completion grant, the HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP), the Hellenic Festival of the New York Public Library in association with the Queens Library, and a Chashama Theater residency subsidized space grant.
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