Shipwrecked!

PlayMakers Repertory Company

Director: Tom Quaintance 

This show was an amazing challenge as sound design was comprised fo Foley elements performed by actors on stage along with a live musician, who was also our composer.  I found three things striking about doing a show with Foley.  First, normally when you reduce an idea, say of a dock scene, to a soundscape, you end up with things like a ships bell, some water, a seagull and maybe the sound of people talking.  Those are the base things you need to communicate to the audience where we are.  When working in Foley I found that those ideas can be reduced even further, with a single ships bell struck by an actor establishing the scene.  Second, it was an immensely iterative process.  I'd bring in some cellophane and tissue paper to make the sounds of fire, the actors would work with it, yet something wouldn't be quite right.  So I'd go back and find that we needed to throw in some bubble wrap to make those crackles you hear in fire.  Third, it was a true collaborative process, with me bringing lots of fun toys in for the actors and them finding ways of using them I hadn't even thought of.  Overall, I'm very proud of this show and all the work everyone put into it and how much it taught me about iterative design and collaboration.