BRINGING SOUND TO LIFE, BY ANGIE HAZEN
THE CHILDREN is a one act play, set in the real world, and structured as only one scene. How much sound design could there be? Despite the deceptive simplicity, plenty! The sound equipment still has to be set up, other designers need to be collaborated with, and decisions about content need to be made. By giving you insight into my work as the sound designer on THE CHILDREN, I hope to help you more fully engage with this play but also more deeply appreciate the sound of all future productions you attend.
In designing the sound system for a realistic play, the system setup is almost more important than for a show that is expressionistic. The first day I am working on sound in any space I take the time to get to know the sound system. How does sound get from the computer program to the speakers, with what equipment and processing? I walk through the seats to familiarize myself with how even the sound is because I want each audience member to hear the same show. As well as the two main speakers for this show, there are two speakers backstage pointing towards the projection screen. This diffuses where the sound seems to be coming from. Instead of pointing directly to where the speaker is located, an audience member from any seat in the house would believe that there is a toilet somewhere in a bathroom off stage-left. For speakers that are used for effects coming from a specific location, there's a lot more experimenting with which speakers the sounds come from, the speakers' angles, and the EQ of each effect to create the illusion that we're in an English cottage. It's also necessary that the sound system integrates with the other departments of the show.
Integrating sound with lights, props, and projections is important for any show, but maybe more so for a realistic play. In THE CHILDREN, when the electricity is restored the lights have to shift enough to visually establish the change. But for this production we decided to accent it with a sound effect. Although perhaps not as realistic, this sonically punctuates the change. The Geiger counter prop required some orchestration to create one sound effect that would integrate with the actors' blocking. The projections and the sound files for the waves we hear throughout the play have to be selected and EQed to match each other. How far away is the sea in the video? How dense are the waves? Another consideration is whether to add moments of sound when there aren't any scripted lights or projections.
With a relatively simple play it's also more important than usual to know when to use silence as a tool and when to add something that might not be called for in the script. Several days into the tech process I added the sound effects at the beginning of the show. Dropping the audience straight into the show, lights up simultaneous with starting the projections and the sound of the waves, felt jarring. Because the show is one long scene without transition music, we agreed music didn't feel like the right choice. I proposed an "audio back-story." Even for audiences who are first seeing the show, it still creates tension and foreshadowing, punctuating the drama of Rose's arrival. Although not called for in the script, I think these added sound effects enhance the story telling of this production.
I hope that you enjoyed (or will enjoy) seeing Seat of the Pants' production of THE CHILDREN. And I hope that this exploration of some of the elements of the seemingly straight-forward sound design will help you engage more fully with this thought-provoking play, as well as future productions you get to see.