The Comedy of Errors

2013 Illinois Shakespeare Festival

Director: Michael Cotey
Scenic Design: Fred Duer
Lighting Design: Sarah EC Maines
Costume Design: Judith Ramirez
Sound Design/Original Music: Shannon O’Neill
Fight Choreographer: Paul Dennhardt
Cover Photo: Pete Guither

I had so much fun working on Comedy of Errors! From the beginning, Michael Cotey, our director, had a vision of “Foley merchants” for sound effects. We were inspired by Foley artists in films, but also by productions like Stomp, to create a live sound design using found objects. We had four merchants: a meat merchant, a cloth merchant, an artisan, and a produce merchant, who all used objects on their carts to create hits and other sound effects throughout the production. It is a rare treat as a sound designer in live theatre to design a show where the audience can see the sound being made. Unfortunately, visuals of our Foley merchants did not make it into this video, but you can hear the sounds they are making in the fight scenes.

Additionally, we had two musicians who played guitar and mandolin to play music throughout the play. Creating the music and the sound design for this production was an exciting collaboration between areas, as we had to involve props, scenery, and fight choreography to create a cohesive design.