In the Beginning was Sound

This module investigates the ever-present and yet simultaneously hidden component of the acoustical world of performance and theatre. Though the play text seems to remain silent when we read, it contains all sorts of acoustical clues. This becomes even more pronounced when the sound becomes music, singing, vocal acrobatics, and the disembodied radio play. The module will begin in an examination of vocal handbooks for actors from Heywood in the 16th century to Eugenio Barba in the 20th. Then we will look at the history of musical accompaniment on the stage. Early and modern opera will be followed by an examination of the genre of radio play. The module will end with musical theatre. While following sound through the centuries the module will include a survey of scripts/libretti from Europe and the United States. The practical exploration of the module gives students a chance to theorize by sound, undoing their scopic habits in order to use experiments in sound, sound making, sensory reception to rehear the performative power of the acoustic.