Sounding out ‘the scenographic turn’: eight position statements

Abstract

Scenography is not without sound. As an 'orchestration' of potentially all that which constitutes theatre (see Butterworth & McKinney), relinquishing the sonic is not the aim of the scenographic. However, the idea of a post-sonic, scenographic turn suggests a move away from sound, an implication that one belies the other. This invites old divisions-of the sonic versus the visual, or ear versus eye-back into the conversation, but perhaps this is for good reason. Sound has recently penetrated theatre-making practices in ways that suggest the opposite turn, a move towards sound, might be the case. The sound designer has, according to Carolyn Downing, 1 recently emerged from the 'tech box' and, taking a position within the rehearsal room, has embedded the sonic in the mix of theatre making. This, in turn, has brought sound designers as theatre artists to the fore, Melanie Wilson and Adrienne Quartly to name but two. This attention to the sonic is not merely a trend, often dismissed as the happenstance of technological advances, or as symptomatic of collaborative practice models. These instances of sonic scenography are emerging because of possibility: theatre makers are drawn to the potential of sound for its ability to generate scenography where visuality falls short.