henry g20 research lab
The idea
Director and Playwright Christine Brubaker conceived of this adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry V in 2014 at the Stratford Festival during her time in The Langham Directors' Workshop. Brubaker was inspired to use the framing of Shakespeare’s epic battle to challenge the prevailing narrative around the G20 protests: of burning police cars and anarchic thugs.
She saw an opportunity to create a thrilling play that would move audiences and remind them of the other side of the story, marked by hundreds of complaints of police violence, grievous violations of fundamental Charter rights, and the arrest and detention of over 1100 people.
The Timeline
THe idea 2014
Henry G20 is conceived by Christine Brubraker at the Stratford Festival in The Langham Directors' Workshop.
First public reading 2018
Henry G20 has its first public reading at The Bentway and post-show Panel Discussion and Talk Back with activist and scholar, Dr. Lesley Wood; Rob De Luca, lawyer with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association; Sharmeen Khan, journalist and activist; and Alok Mukherjee, author of Excessive Force: Toronto's Fight to Reform City Policing. Moderated by activist and artist Nikki Shaffeeullah.