M+M

BACKGROUND This production is a response to the Mikhail Bulgakov masterpiece novel, The Master and Magarita. It required Verhagen to 'call sound' in unique ways to present the novel's various narratives that are woven together in a complex argument. In this production Verhagen extends the audio-narrative language he has been exploring with director Daniel Schlusser - subliminal temperature shifts in environments, functional cues, violent incursions, anti-theatrical ruptures and experimental placements of and choices in music. In this production of M+M, the ambiguity between diegetic and theatrical sound was pushed innovatively, including using a live drummer on stage. CONTRIBUTION The research challenge in this work involved finding a calling methodology for sound cues that would keep the action on stage (blocked, loosely scripted but still open to improvisation) from cementing with each performance. The solution was to put the director in control of a suite of sound cues (buzzers, telephones, incursive noises) to control (and disrupt) action on stage. This is radical departure from the traditional approach to calling sound which is usually locked down to cuepoints in a script, designed to support and reassure the actors. Instead, this experimental approach with variable nightly control from the director prevented the actors from settling into routine, thus providing a tension and unpredictability that kept the performances fresh and the production on the edge. The techniques used have enabled further experiment with multisensory integration. SIGNIFICANCE Verhagen's soundtrack won a Green Room award (best sound design), as a radical reworking of a classic in which the sound design was integral in challenging audiences, pushing discomfort alongside contemplation and seduction. Co-commissioned by Theatre Works and Melbourne Festival, supported by City of Port Phillip (Cultural Development Fund), Besen Family Foundation and The Australia Council for the Arts.