Through the audio medium, artists can develop a new relationship with their audience
Audio experiences provide artists with the opportunity to explore a unique type of storytelling, since podcasts and binaural experiences create a particular sense of intimacy with the audience. Creators have been using this medium to explore new possibilities for theatrical works. Notably, Montreal’s Phi Centre recently opened an exhibition dedicated to audio experiences. As well, theatre company Singulier Pluriel shared its new podcast with the public on Feb. 16.
Theatre without a stage
Julie Vincent first presented her play The Doorman of Windsor Station in 2010. Initially written in French, the work is set between Montreal and Montevideo. Audience members follow the story of Francisco, an architect who came to Montreal after he left Uruguay, and Claire, a piano player. Vincent was presented with the opportunity to translate her play into English in Toronto several years later, but the plan had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. Instead, a podcast version was created. In this iteration, the producers paid special attention to the rhythm of the words.
For Vincent, the podcast was a great opportunity to experiment with the relationship between words and music in a theatre work. The writer collaborated with producer Michel Smith to create a suitable soundtrack that would tell the story without its visual elements. The actors also adapted their interpretation to the music.
Early in the creation process, the interpreters were encouraged to work with the rhythm of the play’s soundtrack so that the story would take life through their voice. Vincent explained that the actors had to work on internalizing their interpretation of the piece to be able to transmit emotions through spoken words only. For her, “this work puts us in tune with the listening experience of the listeners.”
Vincent believes the strength of the podcast lies in its proximity with the listener. She described this medium as a way to explore new sensitivities in the special relationship it creates with its audience. “We are in the invisible […] we are in another dimension, we are in a certain intimacy with them and we try to touch their interiority.”
New audio-immersive technologies
Phi Centre’s new programming also explores this avenue for theatre creations. On Feb. 17 the arts centre opened new exhibitions focused on audio experiences. “We don’t want to be where people are waiting for us. We want to surprise the audience. That is why the idea of presenting an exclusively sonic and immersive programming came to be,” said Myriam Achard, the chief of new media partnerships and public relations at Phi Centre. This show marks the centre’s 10th anniversary. It features three creations: Lashing Skies, Eternal, and The Disintegration Loops.
While The Disintegration Loops by William Basinski is a music room where visitors can sit to enjoy music, the two other creations require visitors to wear headphones. Multidisciplinary artist Brigitte Poupart used poems written by Madeleine Monette to create Lashing Skies. The texts recount the stories of five fictional characters on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Visitors are invited to listen to the 45-minute audio experience in a setting replicating the destroyed landscape that followed the 9/11 events. This interactive piece aims at making users reflect on where they were when the disaster occurred.
Eternal is a 20-minute audio immersive journey created by the U.K. studio Darkfield Radio. Visitors lie in a bed in the gallery space with their eyes closed and headphones on. They are invited into the narrator’s room through the story he tells them. The piece shares reflections on the possibilities of an eternal life. It uses technology that creates the feeling of 360-degree audio. “It is a very powerful experience,” said Achard.
Achard first encountered Darkfield Radio’s work during a festival, before the pandemic. In the various art events she attended all over the world, she witnessed a tendency towards audio experiences. “In the past years, there is an increasing presence of audio immersive experiences, be it spatialized sound, be it binaural sound […] I think we are in an important moment for immersive sound creations,” she said.
Achard also explained that the inclusion of theatre elements was really important in this audio-themed exhibition. “We wanted to bring people in this theatricality. The encounter between the sound medium and theatre create really strong experiences,” she explained.
This strength described by Achard relates to Vincent’s work with The Doorman of Windsor Station podcast. These creations reach the audience in a very particular way that offers new opportunities for theatre works.
Transistor media’s diverse propositions
On the French side, the podcast producer Transistor Media proposes a different series of artistic endeavours. They produce Signal nocturne, a podcast hosted by Julien Morissette. For each episode, Morissette meets with an artist at night. The audio work integrates excerpts of texts written by the artist with interview segments.
They also co-produced Néon Boréal with the Théâtre du Trillium and Sous la Hotte. The four-episode series is a play adapted for radio. Written by Louis-Philippe Roy and Josianne T Lavoie, it explores stereotypes associated with the American dream through the stories of characters, such as a Hooters waitress. The realistic sonic environment of the work complemented by energetic pop music enhances the story.
Podcasts and audio immersive experiences are unique mediums that have the capacity to introduce new possibilities within the realm of performance art. Their omission of images leave the viewer with the poetry of words, the tone of a voice, and the soundtrack. These specific audio creations are only a few of the many works available for you to listen to.
The Doorman of Windsor Station podcast is available until Feb. 28 on Singulier Pluriel’s Facebook page. Phi Centre presents its audio-themed exhibition until May 15.
Graphic by Lily Cowper