Sound Specific Moments

 

From the beginning, there were two particular moments where sound was key, but I decided to move in a different direction towards the moments of sound that were specific to Stanley. To elaborate on the two moments, I thought that the doorbell when McCann and Goldberg arrived, as well as when Stanley was drumming, were very important. After the two men had arrived, it was clear that everything was rapidly changing with Stanley, as with the sound. The doorbell – which is warped – signifies Stanley’s last “sane” moment. With the same idea, when Stanley was drumming, it signified a drastic change in his state of being. As for my chosen sound moments, they are explained as follows:

I really wanted to make Stanley feel that he was singled out, and I wanted viewers to understand that these sounds were to reiterate the breakdown from Stanley’s point of view. Each of Stanley’s entrances is paired with a different sort of whisper. The sounds are only meant for him to hear them and do not effect any of the other characters. As the play progresses, these whispers also serve to confirm Stanley’s state of being; becoming more aggressive/noticeable as the plot unravels.

I really wanted to use, and emphasize (subtly) this sound mainly because it would serve as the bridge between the audience and Stanley that allows them both to acknowledge that Stanley is extremely on edge, and is picking up every sound.

I had originally thought to make this underscore a very “harsh” or chaotic piece – due to the fact that I was never really sure if Stanley was ever a pianist – so as to show that Stanley’s story might be made up. I had changed my mind to make it a very normal piano underscore, but I still wanted the audience to question the validity of the story. I ended up going with a simple, few note, piano underscore because even though it is pretty normal in nature, it could still give the audience reasonable doubt that Stanley isn’t really what he seems.

At this point in the play, I wanted to show how all of the characters are completely okay, and that Stanley has officially snapped. When Meg turns on the music, it’s a bit strange, but no one is affected by it. The track goes in and out between “normal” songs, and strange music. To display Stanley’s sanity, there are also random sounds throughout the track as well as the constant static noise.