“An idealistic teacher comes face-to-face with a bear in the wilderness and finds himself spiraling into a mid-life crisis. He leaves his partner, child, and students in pursuit of a new career where he forms an unlikely friendship with a young boy, as they help each other step forward into a brave new future. Oh yeah, and Led Zeppelin.”
Technical Challenges:
The show has the need for many cordless sources of sound. There were 2 cell phones and an iPad that had to make sound. We used Stage Caller in conjunction with Qlab to make the devices play sounds.
The birdhouse (pictured below) plays a key role in the story and had to light up, play sound effects and be a speaker for an offstage actor on a microphone, all while being wireless. We used a wireless transmitter/receiver connected to a bluetooth speaker (aux in) to route sound and we used an RF relay to an LED element to control the light. All of this was built directly into the birdhouse. Diagram can be found here.
Samples:
Transition from scene 1 to 2. Not only does the music change to represent the mood of the new scene, but the sound had to also fade out of the main system and continue playing on a cell phone.
Transition from scene 12-13. We change from a string cover of Thank You to the original version. Pete finally accepts his role in his own life and reaches out (for the first time in the play) to his daughter. The music continues under their phone call and then carries us out of the scene.
Berserker – Alleyway Theatre 2022 Director: Robyn Lee Horn.
Scenic: Collin Ranney. Costumes: Collin Ranney. Lights: Emma Schimminger. Sound: Nicholas Quinn.
Photo: Sarah Potter and Alleyway Theatre.