“The Duke”

Hello again,

On 9th February, a few of our company members went to see The Duke (2017) produced by HoiPolloi, PBJ Management and Theatre Royal Plymouth. The Duke is a solo show, which is very different to our production with 8 actors. However, we did take a lot of inspiration from the show. There are two main influences we took from the show which was the essence of the stage manager in performance and the simplicity of storytelling.

Shôn Dale-Jones, the only actor, greets every audience member as they enter the theatre, shaking their hand and asking how they are. This instantly allowed me, as an audience member, to feel very involved within the performance and the experience as a whole. This was something that, as a company, we discussed the impact of and how this could be incorporated within our piece as we are aiming to creating an inclusive and immersive experience for our audience. We then explored the idea of offering each audience member a hot chocolate as they enter the theatre as hot chocolate is often associated with helping people fall asleep.

‘The Duke’ (2017)

Dale-Jones, for the entirety of the performance, is sat behind a desk with a laptop, to control the tech, and a microphone. The essence of the stage manager incorporated into performance was very interesting to me. I think that with the space we are trying to create, an immersive sleepover experience, having a desk on stage with laptops to control the tech will clash with the aesthetic. However, the involvement of the stage manager was definitely something we wanted to consider in our production. We have discussed potentially making reference to the stage manager’s presence, acknowledging that perhaps the sound is too loud or asking for a certain lighting cue. I think this is a nice idea to explore as it rips apart the conventional theatre experience, allowing the audience to forget they are watching a piece of theatre and fully emerge themselves in the art surrounding them.

The Duke was a fully emerging piece of theatre through the simple art of storytelling. The show did not need a lot of things happening on the stage to portray the story and this was something I found fascinating and interesting. This has taken an inspiration in the rehearsal room, allowing us to focus on things in a more sophisticated and simple manner as opposed to trying to imitate sleep disorders in a perhaps, gimmicky and immature fashion.

C.M.

Works Cited:

Dale-Jones, S. (2017) The Duke [live performance]. Performed by Shôn Dale-Jones. Lincoln: Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, 9 February.

Dale-Jones, S. (2017) The Duke. Cambridge, HoiPolloi.

Designing the Sound!

As a sound designer, I want to make sure that every piece of audio which is used within the show related in some way shape or form to sleep, even if the track was instrumental. I want to make sure that all of the audio tracks correlate and provides a clear thread throughout the show itself, from the intro dance sequence to the bows.

 

For the role of technical designer I have started researching and listening to a variety of songs/sounds which relate to sleeping/dreaming. Furthermore, the show structure correlates to a sleep cycle which requires sound effects to distinguish between each stage. The stages of sleep are “characterized by a reduction in physiological activity. As sleep deepens, a person’s brain waves slow down and gain amplitude, both breathing and the heart rate slow down, and the individual’s blood pressure drops” (National Sleep Foundation, 2018). Therefore, I took audio which is supposed to help you sleep and edited that same audio for the five stages of sleep. I slowed stages two, three and four down and made stage five (REM) quick to match the ‘rapid’ eye movement of that stage. Below is the audio of the different stages of sleep, which represents the deceleration of brain waves through the sleep cycle.

 

– Transition for stage 2

– Transition stage 3

– Transition stage 4

– Transition for stage 5 (REM)

(MacLeod, 2014)

 

I also edited a song which is about night terrors for our night terrors scene. I made the audio disorientated in order to represent the ‘giant’ (which is told in the night terrors verbatim), by embodying the creature’s breathing and ‘growling’ and therefore manifesting the giant. This was used for the background audio within that scene, however, when hearing the subtle growls and groans it leaves you feeling eerie while being fed the description of the night terror. Below is the final edit of the night terrors audio:

(LilyPichu, 2012)

 

All sound effects and songs are edited through the use of iMovieWithin this, I am experimenting with effects on the audio which deepen the audio and also speed it up. The box in the screenshot below shows the different effects I am experimenting with.

Screen Shot 2018-05-24 at 11.53.00
iMovie application sound editing

(Apple, 2018)

 

C.D.

 

 

Works Cited

Apple (2018) iMovie [software]. Apple. Available from https://www.apple.com/uk/imovie/ [accessed February 12 2018].

 

LilyPichu (2012) Slendy’s Lullaby [ video]. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSLz6Vhl6Rs [accessed 12 February 2018].

 

MacLeod, K. (2014) Music to sleep in 5 MIN [ video]Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1ldGvNwRiQ [accessed 15 February 2018].

 

National Sleep Foundation (2018) Stages of Human Sleep. National Sleep Foundation. Available from http://sleepdisorders.sleepfoundation.org/chapter-1-normal-sleep/stages-of-human-sleep/ [accessed 12 February 2018].