Sound Design Concept 

Centering a colonialism discourse, the play specifically called for an “cultureless” and “universal” world building as to be more applicable across nationalities/cultures, which created an interesting design challenge to create a sound world that is intentional enough to ground the world while being culturally abstract.

To find the aural language for the push-and-pull dynamic between the two countries, I focused on exploring the sonic qualities of “circular fluidity vs militaristic abrasiveness,” which became the foundation of the sound world. I then further realize music writing by intertwining a variety of instrumentation, textures, meters, patterns etc.

System wise, I aimed to heighten the physical quality of the space and the immersion through a 28-speakers system. The speakers are placed at various positions, levels and orientations, allowing the audio to travel freely horizontally and vertically while filling up the space. For example, the music travels vertically with the center set piece flies up in the finale. At times, the sounds are also meant to be disturbingly close to the audience. Examples would be sounds of monsters or bugs creeping right next to the audience’ feet or behind their heads.

To heighten the liminality in certain moments, I also installed microphones in the space, processed actor’s voices through special effect, and played them back in real time. The processed voices are only played back through speakers that are up high and aiming at the ceiling to further the sense of dispersion.

*This play won Second Prize in Emerging Sound Design at World Stage Design 2025.