Katharine Horowitz
Sound Design

Sound design and music are a language. When we run out of words and pictures we rely on sound to coax emotion, describe an environment, create a world, and tell a story.

This display focuses on the sound design for the 2018 and 2019 Jungle Theater productions of The Wolves, by Sarah DeLappe. "Left quad. Right quad. Lunge. A girls’ indoor soccer team warms up. From the safety of their suburban stretch circle, the team navigates big questions and wages tiny battles with all the vigor of a pack of adolescent warriors. "

The production process began with a site visit to the Maple Grove Sports Dome. Field recordings were taken of the room tone of the dome, and of various soccer games being played inside it. A careful speaker plot was created to mimic the surround sound and reverberation of a large soccer dome (as much as possible in a small theatre!). Recordings were also made of the actors playing soccer on the stage, in order to capture individual kicks, grunts, and cheers. An in-depth analysis of the script was done in order to discover where certain sounds and ambiences could be accentuated or reduced to heighten emotional moments. Finally, all of this was put together during tech week, carefully collaborating with the director (Sarah Rasmussen), scenic designer (Sarah Bahr), lighting designer (Karin Olson), and stage manager (Amanda K Bowman and D Marie Long) to create as realistic and immersive a soccer experience as possible!

To hear the sound cue of the girls’ big game, played halfway through the show, place your hand about three inches from the infrared sensor and wave it back and forth once. The sound will emit from above for about 40 seconds and will stop on its own.

About Katharine

Katharine Horowitz is a theatrical sound designer and composer in Minneapolis, MN. She has designed critically-acclaimed and award-winning shows for the Guthrie Theater, The Jungle Theater, History Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, Pillsbury House Theatre, Park Square Theatre, Great River Shakespeare Festival, Second City Theatricals, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, and many others. Katharine is a professional member of the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association, and a 2017 McKnight Theatre Artist Fellow at the Playwrights' Center. www.katsound.com

Credits

All photos by Katharine Horowitz

FIELD RECORDER PHOTO: Recording the sounds of a soccer game at the Maple Grove Soccer Dome.

PHOTO AT THE SOUTHERN FROM POV OF THE BOARD: A view of the sound equipment and set of the 2019 production of The Wolves, performed at the Southern Theatre. Scenic and costume design by Sarah Bahr. Lighting design by Karin Olson. Props design by John Novak. Stage management by D Marie Long. Directed by Sarah Rasmussen.

THE WOLVES 2.0 SOUND 1-28-2019: Speaker plot for the 2019 production of The Wolves, performed at The Southern Theatre. Scenic and costume design by Sarah Bahr. Lighting design by Karin Olson. Stage management by D Marie Long. Directed by Sarah Rasmussen.

SCREENSHOT: QLab workspace of cues for the soccer game sequence.