Clybourne Park

The Pennsylvania State University

Sound Designer

Directed by Steve H. Broadnax III

Design Process

The design was based on grounding the audience in the time period through the use of music and atmospheric sound effects. The play and the characters within it are confronting heavy issues such as racism, gentrification, and ableism.

These are the music pieces chosen for the show. Jazz music was used to match with the progression of the characters between acts as being an art form that was naturally transient and changing. As the show also heavily discusses race issues in America, I chose a genre that was developed by and for African Americans.

Below are samples of the music used as well as some of the sound effects created.

These sound effects were collaged together and used intermittently during Act Two for the construction that was ongoing in the backyard of the house.

Harlem Air Shaft acts as a pseudo entr’acte to bring us into the world of the play by starting in the house, and fading down to an area speaker that creates the illusion of the music coming from a radio onstage.

Body and Soul is played through the radio at the end of Act 2, and then transitions us out of the show. It underscores the moment a character is writing their suicide letter. This is the first and only time the character is seen onstage. Previously it is mentioned to the audience that he had died, but no explicit details are revealed until halfway through the second act.

Paperwork

Featured is the mic and speaker plot overlaid on the ground plan. I decided to area mic the set because of equipment restrictions and a sound board operator who was a freshman acting student. The show was done an a PM1D, and also shown below are the input and output lists, as well as the sound cue list.

Credits

Scenic Design by Daniel Robinson and Bekah Unsworth
Costume Design by Charlene Gross
Lighting Design by Jess Holmes
Technical Direction by Chris Swetcky