FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY Sitting behind his drum kit and laptop, Richard Windeyer manages the energy of the dance floor, while his colleague Sabrina Reeves emcees the evening’s events. A slow folk ballad suddenly ramps up to 120 bpm; the room pauses for a dance-off; the tempo returns to a slow gait for an impassioned monologue. This is not an ordinary dance hall. It is in fact an interdisciplinary theatre event, and Windeyer works the playlist as for a dramatic narrative, with varying tempos and moods, and allowing for momentary ruptures in the progress of the evening’s entertainments.
Often in a theatrical situation, the soundscape provides a quiet complement to the onstage action. If we notice it at all, we might realize that the musical cues work to emotionally charge the dialogue and that the incidental soundtrack fills out a representational environment in which the action takes place. Toronto-based sound artist and sound designer Richard Windeyer has long worked to create such environments in conventional theatrical settings, but his most exciting work occurs when he applies his ideas for sound design to more unconventional productions. Notable among Windeyer’s creative endeavours is his role in Bluemouth Inc., a five-person interdisciplinary performance company that he has been instrumental in co-developing over the last ten years. Within this collective, Windeyer has been able to expand the sound designer’s role to active participation in the development of each piece. Within Bluemouth’s productions Windeyer’s soundscapes are not just backing tracks, but integral parts of the performance. In the group’s most recent production, Dance Marathon, he plays a much more visible and unconventional role than does a typical sound designer.
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Image by: Adam Coish. Image designed by: Lucinda Wallace.
