On Set With Theda Bara
“In this hallucination of a one-person show, a genderqueer teen who goes missing and their gay detective father come face-to-face with the supernatural and consciousness-devouring Theda Bara, the vamp and silent film star of the 1920’s.” - www.theexponentialfestival.org
By Joey Merlo, Performed at The Brick in February 2023 as a part of The Exponential Festival. Directed By Jack Serio, Set by Frank J. Oliva, Lighting by Stacey Derosier, Costumes by Avery Reed, PSM Ryan Kane, Starring; David Greenspan. Photos By Emilio Madrid.
Sound Effects
This production had a sharp, dynamic, and magical style. A lot of the sound design functioned as suspense-building underscoring with chordal tones and deep sub-bass. Here are some clips of moments like that from the show.
System Design
The Brick theater had a rep plot with one medium-sized speaker in each of the four corners of the room, and two large overhead speakers in the center of the room. The set design and audience configuration of the show fit perfectly into the surround sound capabilities of the rep speaker plot. I knew early on that this show needed a lot of low-end/ sub-bass material, and it was important that our produciton had a large subwoofer cabpable of shaking the room. Aside from adding a subwoofer against the “upstage” wall, there were no other additions to the rep plot.
