The Land Between Speaking & Singing – Guillaume Bernardi

Research focus

An investigation of the transition between speaking and singing in theatre and music theatre. What is the territory between speaking and singing, and in what ways a director can modulate and use that passage? What are the complex emotional and communication issues that accompany the transition from speaking to singing and back? What are the dramatic motivations and meanings to go from one to the other?

About the researcher

Guillaume Bernardi is a Toronto-based stage director dramaturge and teacher. His directing work covers a wide range of genres, from theatre and opera to movement pieces. He has directed productions on many of the world’s most notable stages including Brussels, Frankfurt, Innsbruck, Montréal, New York, Paris, Rome and Toronto.

Bernardi’s strong connection with opera and dance was established from 1996 to 2000, when he collaborated on a full-time basis with American choreographer Trisha Brown on her opera projects, including the highly acclaimed 1998 production of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo.

As a dramaturge, he worked in Toronto, with Sashar Zarif on Grief , Peter Chin on Berdandan and Stupa and with Hiroshi Miyamoto on Hiki; and abroad, with Boyzie Cekwana (South Africa) on Influx Controls: I wanna be wanna be and In case of fire run for the elevator, and with Lia Rodrigues (Brazil) on Piracema and Pindorama.

He teaches in the Drama and Creative Arts Programme at York University on the Glendon Campus, where he has directed more than a dozen student productions in English, French and Spanish.

Collaborators and credits

James Rolfe, Brian McMillan, Vilma Vitols, Suba Sankaran, Yashoda Ranganathan and Anna Chatterton, with Nightswimming’s Brian Quirt and Naomi Campbell.

May 13-19, 2004, at Toronto’s Theatre Centre.