Kromatik

A stage production retelling a Pandora's box myth through color and movement. Co-created with Hybrid Movement Company at Theater for the New City in the East Village, the show moved through the entire visible spectrum — red to violet — using light itself as a narrative device. Brendan designed and ran the entire technical production: installation, electrical, lighting board, and live camera operation for the video feedback sequences. Live sound by Jason Lindner. Projections by Oliver Allaux.

Red aerial silk duo
Red-lit performer
Red ensemble on stage
Technician with aerial performers
Red-lit acrobat
Warm stage lighting
Green-lit performer
Performer in warm light

The show moved through the entire visible spectrum — from deep red through orange, yellow, green, blue, and into violet. The lighting wasn't decoration; it was the story.

Purple and green — mirror booth on stage
Aerial movement
Colorful projections with aerialists
Warm-toned aerial
Video feedback projections with hoop and silk
Aerial performer
Stage moment
Wide stage shot
Aerial performer on silk
Ensemble wide shot

The show allowed Brendan to play with longstanding ideas about color and light, and to riff on some of the stage devices he'd seen used by the director Robert Wilson.

Hoop aerialist with projections
Performer in violet
Audience silhouettes in purple light
Purple-lit movement
Magenta stage wash
Square composition in warm light
Deep blue aerial
Blue-violet performer
Costumed performer in red-orange light
Red fire scene — costumes and silhouettes
Red backdrop ensemble
Orange-red wide shot

One set piece — a booth with a two-way mirror and identical lights on each side, flicked back and forth to superimpose two people — had a profound effect on audiences. People lost track of which facial features were theirs and which were the other person's. It was later installed at Superchief Gallery as a standalone piece.

Mirror booth — red two-way mirror
Performers in red-pink light
Wide stage with colored backdrop
Blue-lit performer
Dramatic stage moment
Violet aerial
Yellow-warm solo with ribbon
Stage silhouette
Colored light on performer
Deep stage moment
Performer in blue-violet
Blue-green wide shot with shadow tree
Green-blue stage
Red mirror booth on stage
Warm rehearsal
Red mirror booth with dancers
Magenta-red aerial silhouette
Aerial performer on blue
Green glow — mirror booth and ribbon
Portrait in mixed light
Portrait — performer in colored light
Near-square composition
Mirror booth — audience interaction
Purple-blue rehearsal — final scene
Kromatik I: Pandora's Crayons — show flyer with mirrored aerialist image, March 14–17 at Theater for the New City, NYC

Kromatik. Co-created with Hybrid Movement Company. Theater for the New City, East Village, NYC, 2019. Lighting, installation, and live video feedback by Brendan Burke. Live sound by Jason Lindner. Projections by Oliver Allaux. Photography by Shaun Gillen and ATF.

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