1 Soundgrams on stage
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Laura Jayne Wright
Abstract
Chapter 1 proposes that sounds onstage become ‘soundgrams’ (repeated components of theatrical meaning, following Louise George Clubb’s term ‘theatregrams’, of which the ‘core process’ is given as ‘permutation and declension by recombination with compatible units, whether of person, association, action, or design’). To trace the repeated use of sound effects onstage, this chapter narrows its focus to four of the most common (and loud) sounds of the early modern stage: trumpets, gunfire, thunder and bells. Following Wes Folkerth’s coinage of the phrase ‘signature sounds’, it develops terminology to examine allusions and innovations in the theatrical sonic tradition. Using early modern commonplaces as a metaphor for this mobility of meaning, the chapter concludes that sounds have a rhetorical power like that of speech, in that they can create allusions, as well as humour, irony, shock and fear.
Abstract
Chapter 1 proposes that sounds onstage become ‘soundgrams’ (repeated components of theatrical meaning, following Louise George Clubb’s term ‘theatregrams’, of which the ‘core process’ is given as ‘permutation and declension by recombination with compatible units, whether of person, association, action, or design’). To trace the repeated use of sound effects onstage, this chapter narrows its focus to four of the most common (and loud) sounds of the early modern stage: trumpets, gunfire, thunder and bells. Following Wes Folkerth’s coinage of the phrase ‘signature sounds’, it develops terminology to examine allusions and innovations in the theatrical sonic tradition. Using early modern commonplaces as a metaphor for this mobility of meaning, the chapter concludes that sounds have a rhetorical power like that of speech, in that they can create allusions, as well as humour, irony, shock and fear.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- General editors' foreword viii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Conventions xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Soundgrams on stage 29
- 2 Hearing the night 73
- 3 The head and the (play)house 115
- 4 Unheard' and 'untold' 156
- Conclusion 200
- Select bibliography 208
- Index 224
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- General editors' foreword viii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Conventions xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Soundgrams on stage 29
- 2 Hearing the night 73
- 3 The head and the (play)house 115
- 4 Unheard' and 'untold' 156
- Conclusion 200
- Select bibliography 208
- Index 224
