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ROSS BROWN is Dean of Studies and Reader in Sound at the Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London. He is Convenor of the International Theatre Sound Colloquium. His professional career as a theatre composer, musician and sound designer includes productions for BBC Radio Drama, Shared Experience, RSC, The Almeida, BAC, The Gate, The Royal Court, The Shadow Syndicate, Glasgow Citizens', Lancaster Duke's, Derby Playhouse, Red Shift and many other prestigious companies in the commercial and subsidised sectors.

Brown explores relationships between sound and theatre, focusing on sound's interdependence and interaction with human performance and drama. Suggesting different ways in which sound may be interpreted to create meaning, it includes key writings on sound design, as well as perspectives from beyond the discipline.

Acknowledgements x

Series Editor's Preface xii

Preface xiii

List of Readings xv

Introduction: The Theatre of Sound I 1

Immersivity 1

Critical Perspective 3

Theatrum Mundi 4

Part I Dramaturgically Organized Noise 9

1 Defining Theatre Sound Design 11

Design 11

The Somewhat Reluctant Discourse of Theatre Sound 13

Conclusion 15

2 What the Textbooks Say 16

Stage Sound in 1904 16

The 'Business of Making Noises' 24

The Scope and Limitations of Theatre Sound 30

The Use of Sound 34

Sound Design and Craft 39

Art and Craft in Theatre Sound Design 42

Sound versus Music, and Peter Sellers on the Ontological Aurality of Theatre 44

Conclusion 47

3 The Pre-History of Sound Design 49

Introduction 49

Sound 'Within the Wooden O' 50

Music 'In Production' at the Blackfriars Theatre 60

Music and Melodrama 63

The Picturesque of Sound 38

The Duke of Rhubarb 69

The Dramaturgy of Pause, Quietness and Silence 73

Aural Dramaturgy and Symbolism 78

Conclusion 81

4 Alternative Takes 82

Sound and Ritual Practices 82

Magic through Sound: Illusion, Reception and Agreed Pretence 90

The Dramaturgy of Silence 96

The Relationship between Sound and Theatre 102

5 Five Sound Designers in Their Own Words 104

Napier beyond Realism 104

Paul Arditti on Theatre Sound Design in the Digital Age 106

Hans Peter Kuhn on Theatre and Sonic Art 111

John Collins on Devising Sound with the Wooster Group and ERS 117

An Interview with Jonathan Deans 121

Part II Theatrically Organized Hearing 125

6 Problems with Sound as Scenography 127

Showing 127

Recording 129

Outside the Empire of Signs 132

Auditory Engagement/Aural Distraction 135

7Live Listening: The Aural Phenomenology of Theatre 138

The Phenomenology of Auditory Experience 139

Atmo-sphere 143

Liveness 145

8 Resounding Theatres 149

Stone Age Sound Design 149

Vitruvius on Architecture 154

Privileging the Aural: Shakespearian Acoustics 160

9 Alternative Realities 163

The Sonic Scene 163

Surround Sound 169

Designing Surround Sound at the Manchester Royal Exchange 171

Richard K. Thomas on The Sounds of Time 177

10 John Levack Drever on Sound Effect - Object - Event 188

Introduction 188

The Umbilical Sound Effect 190

Inauguration: The Judge (1890) 192

The Operation of Sound Effects Today 193

Sound Object: A Return to the 'Innocent Ear' 197

'Fright Effecf' 200

Sound Event: Contextual Listenings 201

Acoustemology 202

Conclusion 204

Conclusion: The Theatre of Sound II 206

How to Think about Theatre Sound Design 206

How-to-Do Theatre Sound Design 219

Bibliography 222

Index 233