2019
There is a Light That Never Goes Out - Scenes from the Luddite Rebellion
Created By: James Yaetman and Lauren Mooney
Venue: Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre
Sound Design
It's the early 1800s, Manchester is one of the most advanced cities in the world, overflowing with innovation. But the workers and craftsmen are being side-lined for profit. The world is shifting right under their feet. It is time to come together, it is time for rebellion – but with spies in the midst who can be trusted?
The Industrial Revolution was the original Northern Powerhouse, but not everyone bought into the future it promised. Angry workers smashed the new machines and were written off as enemies of progress. Their 19th-century complaint, that bosses were using technology as an excuse to beat down the workers, resonates now more strongly than ever.
Using 21st-century technology, this vivid and passionate production shows how the Luddites helped inspire the birth of Manchester’s radical political identity – and what happens when people without power try to seize it.
We worked throughout rehearsals with the company to devise this piece using research from the luddite movement of the early 1800’s, using Sounds recorded in the Quarry Bank Mill just outside of Manchester and closley integrating Sound effects and music to experiement with concepts of relaying recorded history now.
Creative Team
Director: James Yeatman
Dramaturg: Lauren Mooney
Sound Designer: Pete Malkin
Associate Sound: Dan Balfour
Co-Designer: Naomi Kuyck-Cohen
Co-Designer: Joshua Gadsby
Reviews
The Stage (Chris Bartlett) (full review)
"The multi-tasking cast in modern clothes uses little more than mic stands and Pete Malkin’s evocative sound effects to bring to life the story of how Luddite unrest spread to the north in 1812…."
The Observer (Clare Brennan) (full review)
"Moving on and about the raised scarlet platform that dominates the centre of the Royal Exchange’s theatre-in-the round, actors in modern dress deploy microphones like wizards’ wands, conjuring sounds to swirl around the stage (Pete Malkin’s sound design). Rhythmically percussive clangs and clatters shape relentless factory looms (“You may tire but they never do”); sliverings of tinkling glass “show” us shattering windows and chandeliers in the Royal Exchange’s dining rooms during a protest (a site-specific moment)."
The Guardian (Catherine Love) (full review)
“Manchester’s radical past is reanimated by the roar of disgruntled crowds in Pete Malkin’s complex and ever-shifting sound design"
Frankly My Dear (Lucy) (full review)
"…this show is extremely technically impressive. Its opening uses sound design and lighting to contrast the peace and quiet of agricultural life, as opposed to the terrifying noise of work in the factories. Pete Malkin and Dan Balfour use sound extremely effectively throughout the production."
De Kersentuin (Cherry Orchard)
Dir: Simon McBurney
Venue: Raazobal, International Theatre Amsterdam
Sound Design
After having stayed in Paris for several years, the widow Ranevskaya returns to her family home in Russia. She encounters a changed world. The family’s debts have become so great that the house and estate will have to be auctioned.
Businessman Lopakhin sees a way out. He proposes to cut down the cherry orchard and use the land to build summer cottages on, which can be rented out.
Creative Team
Director: Simon McBurney
Written By: Anton Chekhov
Adaptation by: Robert Icke
Sound Designer: Pete Malkin
Associate Sound: Bart Coenen
Scenographer: Miriam Buether
Lighting Designer: Paule Constable
Video Designer: Will Duke
Costume Designer: Fauve Ryckebusch
Helt Privat (Privacy)
Dir: Audny Chris Holsen
Venue: Kilden Theatre, Norway
Sound Design
Originally performed in London’s Donmar Warehouse, this was a new production of Privacy, in Norwegian and the Kilden Theatre.
Creative Team
Director: Audny Chris Holsen
Scenography and Costume Design: Libby Watson
Sound Designer: Pete Malkin
Lighting Designer: Mike Robertson
Video Designer: Andrzej Goulding
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Australia, Melbourne
Sonia Friedman Productions
Dir: John Tiffany
Venue: Princess Theatre
Associate Sound Design
Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a new play by Jack Thorne. It is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stageThe first part of 2019 was spent in Melbourne working with Gareth and our amazing Australian Sound team on the Melbourne version of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. It was a wonderful experience with a lovely team who made the whole production a smooth experience. Gareth's Design was nominated for the Helpman Best Sound Design award.
Creative Team
Director: John Tiffany
Movement Director: Steven Hoggett
Sound Design: Gareth Fry
Associate Sound: Pete Malkin
Australian Associate Sound: David Tonion
Composer & Arranger: Imogen Heap
Music Supervisor: Martin Lowe
Stage Designer: Christine Jones
Lighting Designer: Neil Austin
Video Designers: Finn Ross and Ash Woodward
International Associate Director: Des Kennedy
International Associate Movement Director: Neil Bettles