Every three years, Cambridge University produces a play entirely in ancient Greek, because of course it does. In 2019, I was commissioned to work as a sound designer by Tangram Theatre's Daniel Goldman for Oedipus at Colonus, the last of Sophocles's trilogy. The story follows Oedipus at the end of his life, reaching a sacred grove where he was fated to die, his legacy sparking a conflict between Greek states.

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Alongside the music of composer Alex Silverman, the design incorporated the speech, singing and utterance of an eleven-strong chorus. All of the soundscapes, scene ambiences, sound effects and atmospheres were done live by the chorus with a dollop of Max/MSP generative transformations. They would move between creating the beeps and machine hum of a hospital, adding delicate ambient elements to scenes to highlight the dramatic narrative, becoming the distorted voices of the mystical Furies and creating a huge thunderstorm filled with rumbles and lightning strikes.

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To create the design, I worked closely with the cast - all students at Cambridge. Really, it was a collaborative effort - we listened to sounds together, thought through what the different ambiences might be, with me bringing them new digital tools to expand their voices. They did amazingly well in coming up with these things with me, for people who for the most part had no experience with expanded vocal techniques. Once we had the material, I drew up a graphic score for the sections which put the sonic material in some sort of structure. The design was controlled live using an Akai Midi controller hooked up to Max/MSP. All this time was spent in communication with the other designers (who are fantastic) and the composer. In the end I think it was a really well-rounded production.

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