Curtain Call: Ada.

About three weeks ago, I wrapped up my first ever project involving sound design for a stage performance. The play Ada by playwright Aeneas Sagar Hemphill was produced with The Empty Space Theater at BabsonArts under the direction of Naomi Hopkins, with professional designers working on light, sound, stage, costumes, and props - and a student cast and crew bringing it to life onstage.

This play wasn't solely put on for entertainment purposes but also had a place in the curriculums of several classes taught at Babson College. You can read the related study guide here.

The Play

In a not-so-distant future, Ada, a worker of artificial intelligence, disrupts her workplace’s carefully maintained power dynamics by becoming a little too human to contain. Joan, her superior and creator, must then reckon with the consequences of her influence on Ada while at the same time attempting to suppress the rebellious urges of her daughter, Amy. Ada follows these women, their family, and coworkers as they confront the imperfections of their “perfect” world.

My Part

My job was to design the soundscape and musical score of the piece and assemble cues in Qlab for a student board operator to be able to run the show smoothly. I used this as a jumping off point for diving back into my first DAW love, Reason, as it provides a uniquely inviting playground for synthesis and its Player Devices made creating generative pieces like "synapse" a breeze. Some of my favorite musical cues from the show are now available as an EP via Bandcamp. Feel free to take a listen below!

Set in a dystopian, hyper-sanitized world where productivity rules supreme, communicating the setting and a constant feeling of unease made for some really interesting sound design challenges. Naturally, I utilized REAPER for this task and created ambiences, spot effects, and nondiegetic mood setters both in the studio and while putting together the show with cast and crew during rehearsals.

All in all, it was a terrific first step into the incredibly engaging world of theater and I hope to do it again soon! Everyone had been a blast to work with and seeing and hearing it all come together during tech week felt magical.