THE PLAY:

Richard III is an intense exploration of the psychology of evil, an exploration, which is centred on Richard’s mind and his embodiment of evil. In the play, the audience experiences a complex, ambiguous, and highly changeable relationship with the main character. Richard is clearly a villain—he declares outright in his very first speech that he intends to stop at nothing to achieve his nefarious designs. But despite his open allegiance to evil, he is such a charismatic and fascinating figure that, for much of the play, we are likely to sympathise with him, or at least be impressed with him. 

 

 

SOUND DESIGN: 

This production implements both a diegetic and non-diegetic sound design, further highlighting the complex dimensions of scenes and characters. The non-diegetic sound was often subtle with slowly evolving soundscapes and themes - placing emphasis on the more subtle narrative details. The diegetic use of sound, on the other hand, was very much designed to compliment the physical environment, largely achieved through dispersing sonic elements around the large playing space. 

 

 

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS:

From the outset, both myself and Dan Winder (Director) wanted to utilise sound as a tool for transformation - using sound to guide and alter the audiences’ perception of physical space. The end result was an extensive multi-channel sound installation dispersed around the gardens of St Paul’s and within the church itself. The entire installation was designed to be operated remotely. One major technical innovation of this production was the design of a system that could launch sound cues in to separate areas from a handheld devise - allowing the stage manager to move with the performance whilst operating the entire sound system.