Deconstructing Binaural MacBeth

Presenters:
Sue Zizza, SueMedia Productions - Carle Place, NY, USA
David Shinn, National Audio Theatre Festivals - New York, NY
Neil Hellegers
Amanda Rose Smith
Dion Graham
William Dufris
Robin Miles

At the 2017 HEAR Now Festival we presented a special “reading” of Act IV, Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s MacBeth. 
The performance, inspired in part by the recent Tony winning Broadway show "The Encounter," featured a Soundman dummy "head" with 2 DPA mono omni-directional capsules. The co-directors took special care to create the actor’s staging around the binaural microphone head, which considered the proximity, intensity, and location arrangement. Sound design elements were added to the mix to compliment the “listening” experience. 
The result was a combination of live theater-going and full-cast audio drama, though a highly audio immersive sense, it sounded to the listener as if they were sitting center stage, around the very cauldron containing the witches' brew. In some ways similar to the Broadway show, while at the same time unique for the presentation of “audio fiction.” As this program was broadcast/streamed live during the performance, care had to also be taken to maintain the performance for the broadcast stream. 
This session will discuss the streaming aspects as well as discuss and demonstrate working with the various technologies to put the audience in the middle of the action of this famous moment in Shakespeare’s play. 

Sue Zizza - Producer / Moderator 
David Shinn - Master Engineer 
Neil Hellegers - Co-Producer / Director Binaural MacBeth 
Amanda Rose Smith - Co-Producer / Director Binaural MacBeth 

Among The Cast 
MacBeth: Dion Graham 
Additional Voices: Robin Miles and William Dufris