Sound & Projections designer

Nathan Davis

Copyright 2013-2018. Nathan Davis. All Rights Reserved. 

• The purpose of this moment as I saw it in the world of the play was to give off a sort of other worldly feeling that is somewhat lost in time.  Shooter is quite perplexed in this moment while he tries to reorient himself to the moment.

Cue #42

Script Indication (cue go is on the first bold line, cue fade out is on the second bold line):

• SHOOTER: It's agonizing.  All this time I could've swore I was getting something done.  I can't even remember eating.  (back to JEEP) Did we eat already?  Wasn't there a turkey?  (turns front again and leans back) Somebody's gonna' have to bring me some food, you know.  I've made this decision not to leave the chair and I'm gonna' stick with it.  Come hell or high water.  It's not my fault.  (back to JEEP) I could have the fish.  When you're finished with it, could you fry it up and bring it to me?  If it's not too much trouble?  (no response from JEEP. SHOOTER turns front agin and leans back in the chair) This isn't the worst.  It's just that my stomach is growling.  I COULDN'T STAY HERE FOREVER!  I don't know what possessed me.  (back to JEEP) Didn't I say that I'll never leave the chair?  (back front again) If I get up, it would be a sign of my weakness.  Jeep?  If I got up would you think I was Weak?  (no answer) This isn't the worst thing that could happen.  ​(short pause)

Design Notes:

• ​This was one of my favorite moments in the play, it was as if the stage action and the music were one and moved together.  It took awhile to get the timing of the music along with the cue placement right, but in the end it was well worth the effort.  I attended numerous rehearsals with a stopwatch to get the general timing for this cue correct.  

Cue #25

Script Indication (cue go is on the first bold line, cue fade out is on the second bold line):

• JEEP:  Walt Whitman was a great man.  He kissed soldiers.  He held their hands.  He saw mounds of amputated limbs.
• LUPE:  I don't know anything about him.
• (SHOOTER comes on from upstage pulling a very heavy, stuffed red armchair.  He huffs and puffs with it, pulling it by inches downstage as the others stay sitting and eat their turkey.)
• JEEP:  He expected something from America.  He had this great expectation.
• LUPE:  I don't know.  I never heard about it.
• JEEP:  He was like what Tolstoy was to Russia.
• LIZA:  I don't know much about it either.
• JEEP:  A father.  A passionate father bleeding for his country.
• LIZA:  (staying seated) Do you want some help, Shooter?
• SHOOTER:  (between heavy breaths) No--I'm uh--okay.  It's--not much--further.  I'll be all right.
• JEEP:  Almost a hundred years ago to the day.  The same thing happened.  Everybody at each other's throats.  Walt was there.  He could tell you.
• LIZA:  I thought he was dead.

• JEEP:  (conversationally) [music swells]--"Mannahatta," it was called then.  Indian.  They had big, open tents on the Bowery with sawdust on the floor.  German beer.  Juggling acts.  Dancing bears.  The Civil War was just beginning.

• LUPE:  When was this?

• JEEP:  He'd tip his hat to Abe, and Abe would tip his hat back.

• LIZA:  They liked each other.

• JEEP:  (in a Walter Cronkite newscaster voice) The poet and the President.  The poet all gray and white standing on his feet.  The President all dark and somber, glooming down from his horse.  The face of war in his eyes.  The two of them seeing each other from their respective positions.  The entire nation in a jackknife.  This all happened on Vermont Avenue near L Street.  The street itself was raining.  Blue soldiers were lying wounded in every doorway; some having slept there all night with gaping wounds.  Soaked to the bone.  Walt to the bone [quick one sec. fade out].

Design Notes:

• This is an example of a “major monologue” underscoring moment.  Its purpose is to support Shooter’s onstage action.  Shooter is talking to himself, moving around the stage gesturing with his arms.  He is giving a profound speech that gives insight into his personality.  The underscoring reinforces the mood at this point, which is a bit haunted or disturbed, since the other characters onstage are pretty much ignoring him.  The underscoring provides ambience, so that the audience feels the emotional weight of the moment for Shooter.

• Additionally, the long fade out serves two purposes.  First, it allows the moment to gracefully conclude and secondly it covers Jeep's entrance with the water.

Cue #21

Script Indication (cue go is on the first bold line, cue fade out is on the second bold line):

• SHOOTER: (standing suddenly) I KNOW IT'S ALL RIGHT!  (The two women continue eating.  Paying no attention.  SHOOTER sits down after awhile.)

• SHOOTER: (quietly to himself; LUPE and LIZA eat quietly)  Just because were surrounded by four walls and a roof doesn't mean anything.  It's still dangerous.  The chances of something happening are just as great.  Anything could happen.  Any move is possible.  I've seen it.  You go outside.  The world's quiet.  White.  Everything [volume swells with next word] resounding.  [volume resumes previous level]--Not a sound of a motor.  Not a light.  You see into the house.  You see the candles.  You watch the people.  You can see what it's like inside.  The candles draw you.  You get a cold feeling being outside.  Separated.  You have an idea that being inside it's cozier.  Friendlier.  Warmth.  People.  Conversation.  Everyone using a language.  Then you go inside.  It's a shock.  It's not what you expected.  You lose what you had outside.  You forget that there even is an outside.  The inside is ll you know.  You hunt for a way of being with everyone.  A way of finding how to behave [begin long 25 sec. fade out].  You find out what's expected of you.  You act yourself out.

• (JEEP enters from upstage with a bucketful of water and four cups in the other hand.  Each cup dangling from one of his fingers by the handle.  He dips it into the bucket.  He does the same with each cup and serves everyone at the table with a cup of water.  Then he sits down on the floor....)

Cue #18

Script Indication (cue go is on the bold word, cue fade out is on the second bold word):

• LUPE: (to JEEP) When you're in a position of doing something like that it's hard to talk about it.  You know what I mean?  I mean while I was doing it--while I was in the middle of actually doing it--I didn't particularly feel like talking about it.  I mean it made me feel funny.  You know what I mean.  It was like somebody was watching me.  Judging me.  Sort of making an evaluation.  Chalking up points.  I mean especially the references to all those stars.  You know.  I mean I know I'm not as good as Judy Garland.  But so what?  I wasn't trying to be as good as Judy Garland.  It started off like it was just for fun you know.  And then it turned into murder.  It was like being murdered.  You know what I mean.

My Approach:

• The idea behind this cue is to provoke the feeling of being watched as well as to reinforce the strain of the moment.

Cue #15

Script Indication (cue go is on the bold word):

• JEEP: (pushing the book away from him) OH THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!  I CAN'T FIND THE PLACE!!

My Approach:

• This line signals a quick beat shift in the scene and continues for another half a page.  The guiding intention behind "Omen-A" is just that, to be ominous.  It is there to reinforce the tension and the dark peculiarity of the moment.

Cue #13

My Approach:

• ​This cue served two purposes--First, it signaled a location shift from the "country" feeling of the previous play Fool For Love.  But it also signaled a genre shift to the psychedelic.  I felt that this bit perfectly sets up the feeling of psychedelia in the viewer's mind when taken in context with the set.
  

Action  Sound Examples

LIKE WHAT YOU hear / SEE? Contact me to Find out more.

If you want to see more of my work, browse my Portfolio.