The Tempest - William Shakespeare
Bellamy Theatre, October 2019
Director: Kerrie Seymour
Lighting Designer: Madeline Dixon
Costume Designer: Katie Carrillo
Set Designer: Shannon Robert
The Storm
Full Fathom Five
Ariel's Warning
Ariel, at Prospera’s command, creates a storm to bring the King’s ship to their island.
“A tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning heard.”
For this scene, I built upon my storm base of thunder, rain, and wooden creaks established in Pre-Show, and added the sounds of ropes slipping and heavier winds as well as recordings I made of the cast crying out throughout the scene to build the storm to its climax.
Ariel charms Ferdinand with her music.
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“The ditty does remember my drowned father.
This is no mortal business, nor no sound
That the Earth owes. I hear it now above me.”
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For this cue, I recorded/edited Ariel singing and composed/created the flute underneath her. The above lines also inspired me to have the music pan around the space.
Ariel uses her magic to put most of the King’s Court to sleep, to warn the King’s Counselor, Gonzala, of Antonio’s plot.
“Enter Ariel, invisible and playing solemn music.
‘Will you laugh me asleep? For I am very heavy.’”
For Ariel's flute I used the Rise Seaboard digital synth and composed the music.
Harpy Prelude
The King’s Court lured with a banquet,
“Solemn and strange music.
‘What harmony is this? My good friends, hark.’”
I edited the beginning of Johnny Greenwood’s Popcorn Superhet Receiver to serve as music that would both enchant the King’s court, and suggest that something was not right with the feast before them. When suddenly…
Ariel as the Harpy
“Thunder and lightning. Enter Ariel, like a Harpy…”
After a crash of thunder, I placed layered sections of Penderecki’s Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima together with two cacophonous organ sections.
Over this, I had a pre-recorded version of Ariel’s monologue, mixed in with two pitched-down vocal parts, and then panned everything around to different speakers to give the impression of it magically coming from different places.
Pipe and Tabor Magic
Ariel, with her pipe and Tabor, place Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo under a spell to lead them to Prospera.
“The isle is full of noises, sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments will hum about mine ears…”
For this instance of Ariel’s magic, I took two of the melody lines from Charles Mingus’ The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady and arranged them together to create the “mysterious music of the island”.
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Production Photos by Breanna Strife and Matthew Leckenbusch.