Blindness was one of the first off-Broadway shows to resume performances in New York City earlier this spring at the Daryl Roth Theatre. A critics pick in The New York Times (“a brilliant production”), Blindness was written by Simon Stephens (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) and premiered in the UK at London’s Donmar Warehouse in August 2020. This psychological thriller was adapted from Nobel prize-winner José Saramago’s dystopian novel about humanity's will to survive against all odds during a pandemic.
What’s unusual about this theatrical presentation is that there are no actors on stage; instead, the audience wears headphones and hears the voice of Olivier Award-winner Juliet Stevenson narrating the story through binaural audio technology, giving the impression that she is whispering in your ear or just over your shoulder, as the audience members sit socially distanced from each other.
The creative team includes scenic designer Lizzie Clachan, and lighting designer Jessica Hung Han Yun, and sound designers Ben and Max Ringham. Live Design interviewed the sound designers about this unusual, and highly successful, project.
Live Design: What was your initial reaction to a play with no performers on stage?
Ben and Max Ringham: People have responded in different ways to the challenges created by the pandemic, but using headphones and a virtual performance seemed like a logical approach. There is something magical about conjuring a performer out of the ether in the way that only binaural audio can. If you can’t have a real performer, then the illusion of one is the next best thing. In the midst of these restrictions it felt like a cheat, like we were sneaking a performer in through the back door. It almost felt like a gesture of defiance. And in a time when physical proximity is such an issue for us all, being able to render a performance where you can experience an actor lean in and whisper in to your ear felt like a gift. The show continually plays with the audience in their understanding of their relationship to the doctor's wife, and we were very keen to use the technology conceptually and in theatrical ways. Ultimately, despite the lack of live performers, hopefully it does feel like a play.
LD: Can you explain the emotional aspect to the sound design, as it carries the storytelling?
B & M: Our initial approach was to look at what the sound was doing conceptually. The show is split in to three clearly defined sections and each of these are tackled with a different sonic approach. The first section is told by the storyteller in third person form and we underscored this section with an abstract score of tonal pads and textures which responded to events but did not seek to represent them. In section two as we move in to the hospital we (as the audience) are witness to events and at this point we introduce the binaural sound. We were very keen not to use it in the first section as we wanted the impact and feeling of being immersed in the environment to correspond with our immersion in the world of the hospital. We exist in this environment with the doctor's wife, and so all of the sounds we hear beyond Juliet’s performance (low drones and textures) have a feeling that they could exist within this space. The final section is told in the form of first person recollection and although we remain in binaural audio the sound is static as if you were seated in a chair being told something by a friend. In this section we introduce composed music for the first time. There is a sense of reflection to this section which seems to lend itself to a more poetic response. The fact that you have not heard any music up until this point hopefully lends it extra weight.
LD: Please talk about the binaural sound design… what does the audience experience? What is the technology? What is pioneering in its use for theatre?
B & M: Binaural sound is a process of recording that mimics the way we hear and understand sound in three dimensions. Sound is recorded with a dummy head with a microphone placed in each ear in the approximate position of our ear drums. When it is played back through headphones it gives quite a startling feeling of being immersed in a three dimensional sound world. Listeners are able to hear the world (and people) as they move around them in every direction. The technology is over one hundred years old but artists have been increasingly exploring using it as a tool to deliver new experiences in theatre over the last 10-15 years. Big recent productions such as The Encounter (Complicite) and ANNA (National Theatre) placed audiences in headphones to experience the narrative from different perspectives and in a more immersive way.
LD: Were there any changes from the Donmar to off-Broadway?
B & M: We tried to keep the production as close as possible but as we were unable to travel we had to leave a lot to our associate Chris Cronin. One of the joys of a headphone show is that the only difference will be in the headphones themselves. It becomes more about EQing them so they sound the same as here.
LD: Is there a sound system in addition to the headphones worn by the audience?
B & M: Yes, and we use it mainly for part two when we’re in the hospital. This is so the binaural maintains its integrity in the headphones while the underscore is played through the speakers. It also offer us a range of (mostly bass) frequencies we could not otherwise play with. Those deep rumbles are not in your headphones! This is possible as most of the frequencies that give you a sense of location and geography are towards the top (treble-y) end of the spectrum.
LD: What was the biggest challenge of this production?
B & M: The biggest challenge was the speed with which we had to put it together. A lot of the artistic choices we made we knew, once made, we couldn’t go back on. There was also the fact that we had only just come out of the first lockdown and London was still very empty and on edge so working on a show about a pandemic during a pandemic proved to be very emotional.
LD: How do you co-design together? And what is the role of the assistant sound designer in this case?
B & M: We’ve worked together for over 25 years so there’s never one way forward for us. We both love to write music and do sound design. On most shows one of us will lead, however in this case we both worked on it the whole way through.
In terms of our US associate Chris Cronin, we sent all the files over to him a couple of months before and had a number of conversations with him about what we wanted but left final decisions to him.