The House of Bernarda Alba
Joe Court and Veronica Santoyo
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JOE COURT has spent the last 22 years working professionally as a sound designer, engineer, and educator. His work has been heard in Chicago (TUTA, A Red Orchid, Mary-Arrchie, Emerald City, and many, many more), New York (59E59, Off-Broadway, NYC), Los Angeles (REDCAT at the Disney Concert Hall), McCarter Theatre Center (Princeton, NJ), The Clarence Brown Theatre (Knoxville, TN.), Great Lakes Theatre (Cleveland, OH), Virginia Stage Company (Norfolk, VA), Actors Theatre of Indiana, and the Idaho, Lake Tahoe, and Illinois Shakespeare Festivals. As an educator he has taught at Virginia Tech, and the University of Chicago. Joe is an artistic associate with TUTA theatre, Chicago. From 2008 until 2016, Joe served as sound engineer for the Chicago production of the Tony Award-winning musical Million Dollar Quartet. He has received 3 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations for his design work. Member, USA 829.
VERONICA SANTOYO has an MFA degree in Theatre: Contemporary Performance from Naropa University and an MA degree in Drama Therapy from New York University. Veronica began her career as a theatre artist in Mexico City, where she is originally from, and was a member of two important Mexican repertory theater companies: the Latin American classical theater company Teatro Sobre La Arena, 1992-2003; and K-Oz Producciones, 2004-2008, a contemporary performance company dedicated to researching new works by upcoming artists, as well as staging contemporary interpretations of classical theatre pieces. Prior to coming to Ball State University, Veronica was adjunct faculty in the undergraduate performance department at Naropa University. She worked closely with renowned dancer and choreographer Barbara Dilley in her class ‘Improvisation/ Composition.’ In addition to acting and directing for the stage, Veronica uses theatre as an instrument for healing and social change, combining her work as artist and teacher with a drama therapy practice. As a drama therapist, she has worked with diverse populations and special needs groups, both in private practice and with various clinical and educational institutions, introducing drama and theatre as a tool to stimulate self-expression, language and movement. Presently, as a theatre artist, Veronica is working on a performance piece that explores the life and art of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Her performance research focuses on the body as an entity for psychological and sociocultural expression, and as a canvas for creative identity and insight. |
Abstract
In this paper, we discuss the play The House of Bernarda Alba, and our approach to the sound design. We touch on themes of the play, our approach to the piece, desired outcomes, and the final product, which was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We each wrote separate essays that we then stitched together. We also have included a response from student members of our Foley team, student members of our cast, and members of our audience. Because of the setting of the play, the performance space, and the themes the team wanted to explore, we decided Foley sound was the best way to go. A Foley team was assembled and we began work. When the pandemic hit, the production was cancelled, but not before we had one performance, in the rehearsal room, a month before our planned tech. The sound team was able to get one rehearsal where they rehearsed with the cast. The performance that followed was a testament to the creativity we had all committed to when the process started.
In this paper, we discuss the play The House of Bernarda Alba, and our approach to the sound design. We touch on themes of the play, our approach to the piece, desired outcomes, and the final product, which was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We each wrote separate essays that we then stitched together. We also have included a response from student members of our Foley team, student members of our cast, and members of our audience. Because of the setting of the play, the performance space, and the themes the team wanted to explore, we decided Foley sound was the best way to go. A Foley team was assembled and we began work. When the pandemic hit, the production was cancelled, but not before we had one performance, in the rehearsal room, a month before our planned tech. The sound team was able to get one rehearsal where they rehearsed with the cast. The performance that followed was a testament to the creativity we had all committed to when the process started.
| etudesdec2020courtsantoyo.pdf |
