A collaboration between Space Productions and Burn Bright Theatre, the production of Vernon God Little at The Space Arts Centre in London’s East End featured sound design by Keri Chesser. the show marked the London Fringe debut for Burn Bright, who place emphasis on ensemble-led theatre and live storytelling
In Vernon God Little, Chesser recreates the frenetic but isolated world of the main protagonist –one sequence relies on an immersive memory soundscape using Out Board’s TiMax Soundhub audio showcontrol for tracking/panning effects. Here voices and the sounds of a bell and gunshots come at him from different directions. ‘For the audience it recreates that claustrophobic can’t escape feeling that he has in that moment, because they are in the thick of it too,’ she says.
‘TiMax really pulled this effect together and made it the clear, understandable chaos we wanted to create. If I’d used something a Doppler effect in edit software, for example, the timing would be almost impossible to get just right and the effect just would not be the same.’
For this production, the audience is tucked into a three sided in-the round configuration. Chesser augmented the Space’s main left/right PA configuration with smaller speakers at the opposite end of the space as surrounds and also to anchor spot effects. QLab is used to trigger the cues for TiMax via Midi, and a single wired mic feeds TiMax via the desk for newsroom segments central to the show’s plot. TiMax switches this between a tightly delay-matrixed localisation for realism or a widely spatial mode for a more surreal effect.
‘Working with TiMax has brought my sound designs to the next level and the technology is encouraging me to grow and explore how sound can be used to complement and aid the creation of the worlds of the shows I work on, in this case Martirio, Texas for Vernon God Little,’ Chesser says, adding, ‘It’s much easier to use than I first thought it would be – I will be using when and wherever I possibly can.’
More: www.outboard.co.uk
