Walking through a lush botanical garden with an iPod seems a bit off. But for Glasgow-based playwright David Leddy, it’s the perfect vehicle for “Susurrus,” a play that puts the listener center stage.
The touring play, now at the Franklin Park Conservatory, begins at 10 a.m. today and runs through Oct. 24. Visitors listen to the narrative on a iPod as they explore the eight stops.
The story of “Susurrus” is woven together through storytelling methods, such as standard narrative, radio plays, opera and ambient sound. The play, co-presented by the Wexner Center and Franklin Park Conservatory, makes allusions to Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” although it merely extracts elements of the play while creating a new narrative.
“It’s based around the life of a fictional opera singer who sang in Benjamin Britten’s original opera of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,'” Leddy said. “We hear different voices that drift in and out like a radio tuning to different wavelengths, and the different voices are pieced together into a narrative of the disintegration of this man’s family.”
Through the iPod, Leddy creates a scene that he said would not be possible without it. Characters whisper in the listener’s ear as ambient sounds enhance the visuals of the garden around them. As the conservatory lets in only two visitors every 15 minutes, the about 90-minute audio play becomes an intimate experience where the listener becomes the center of its world.
Leddy, who was the first person in Scotland to complete a practice-based doctorate in theater, said that is an important element in the play, as it encourages listeners to take an active role in creating a meaning for the piece.
“I’m very fortunate that the reactions to the show have been really incredible, and people tend to be very moved by the piece,” he said. “They find it very intense, meditative and emotional.”
Leddy said high level of intimacy allows for an effect that would never be possible in a traditional play. He recalled a few instances in which audience members experienced wild, unplanned events that radically changed the way they perceived the piece.
“Memorial benches are a recurring theme in the piece, and somebody wrote a blog entry saying that, as they were listening to that section, they turned around to look at the bench to see if it had a memorial plaque on it, and it actually had a plaque of somebody that they knew,” he said. “And in that sense, that person’s relationship to the piece is obviously very personal.”
Leddy gave another example, where a dead bird fell from a tree as an audience member was listening to a section of the play that discussed bird dissection.
Charles Helm, director of performing arts at the Wexner Center, was crucial in bringing “Susurrus” — which is defined as a “whispering, murmuring, or rustling” according to Merriam-Webster — to Columbus. After seeing the play at the Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland, Helm worked with Leddy to bring the play to America. He discussed why he felt the play was important and how it tied into Ohio State’s partnership with the U.K.’s Royal Shakespeare Company.
“There’s kind of an interesting development these days in contemporary theater,” Helm said. “It’s this idea of a real intimate experience for just a couple of people, but sometimes you do get this kind of heightened sense of a deeper connection.”
Audience members might find a personal meaning in something as simple as the changing weather, Helm said. The play adapts to all types of weather, and audiences members will be provided an umbrella if it rains.
Helm said though the Wexner Center is not directly involved with OSU’s partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company, he thought it would be interesting to bring in contemporary artists who are using Shakespeare as a point of departure.
“In many ways, that’s what ‘Susurrus’ does. It’s not directly telling ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ but there are multiple references,” he said. “You don’t need to know ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ to enjoy ‘Susurrus,’ but if you do, you will probably see things in it that people who don’t know that story wouldn’t.”
Spots for the play are limited, readers who are interested should book their time soon.
“It’s filling up quickly, so we do encourage people to call and reserve their time spot,” said Alana Manwaring, an executive and public relations assistant at Franklin Park Conservatory.
