The Wonderful World of Dissocia
The Wonderful World of Dissocia
Synopsis
The Wonderful World of Dissocia is a play which was written and directed by Anthony Neilson. It is about a woman suffering from dissociative disorder. Act one is set in her dream like imaginative life with many interesting and menacing characters. In act two it comes crashing back to her reality which is bleak and depressing.
Performance dates
31st of October - 3rd of October
Creative Team
Debbie Hannan - Director
Deborah Jenkins - Designer
Lizzie Powell - Lighting Designer
Maciej Kopka - Sound Designer
Technical Team
Production Manager - Lynfryn MacKenzie
Stage Manager - Kirstie L Connel
Deputy Stage Manager - Louise Charity
Assistant Stage Managers - Allan Hamilton and Rosie Orford
Production Electrician- Euan Odd
Technical Stage Manager- Reece Flynn
Head of Flys - Craig Stevenson
Deputy Technical Stage Manager- Ross Brodie
Lighting Technicians - Adlai Faigen Callum Farrel Daryl Campbell
Sound 1 - Regan Kelly
Sound 2 - Racheal Matthews
Stage Management -
There was a lot of props for this production. Most was borrowerd from the RCS Props Store, Tron (where the original production was performed) and NTS.
The most challenging prop was the food. I found the cheapest options for the food (which was hot dogs with onions, mustard and ketchup) was frozen supermarkets (e.g Iceland), Booker wholesale and lidl.
Effects
Snapping Guitar String - Allan Hamilton (ASM)
The simplest solution that we found was to use a lower gauge of guitar string. In WWoD we used a 9-gauge nylon string with ball ends on the end. This still gave us the original sound of an acoustic string but was a lot thinner meaning it was a lot easier to snap.
When stringing the guitar, the nylon string should be fed through the bridge at the bottom, then brought up to through the track towards the neck of the guitar. The hole on the tuning peg should be facing upward. The string should be wrapped around the tuning peg 4 times. On the last time wrapping it round, it should be fed through the hole. With a pair of pliers, hold the loose end of string whilst tensioning it. Once in tune, take the string above its tone, and bring it back, stretching it out.
If the tuning peg is proving difficult to turn, cover the string and the tuning peg and use a small bit of WD40 to lubricate.
For WWoD, we used a high E string. So for snapping, it was roughly 8 turns from E until it snapped.
When the string snaps, depending where the tension breaks first, it will either rip the ball end out, or it will snap of the tuning peg. With the force of the string snapping, it will slip down the bridge, so ensure that the hands are kept clear and the guitar is facing away from the performers face.
Master Props List
File:Master props list-1-.docx
Sound
The sound department on this show was lead by the show sound designer - "'Maciej Kopka"' . The assistant sound designer was Fraser Cherrington, the sound operator was Regan Kelly and the sound 2 was Rachel Matthews. The show was very sound effect heavy and included a redesign of the usual New Athenaeum Sound System, utilising the announcement speakers, wing space audio and auditorium output to create a surround sound effect within the show.
"'Sound Documentation"'
The visual cue running list for the sound operator (File:Dissocia - Visuals Running List.docx) The power up and power down procedure for the sound department to complete prior to a show commencing and after the show has completed (File:Power up + Power down Procedure.docx) The show checklist document that is completed before the show commences and during interval (File:Show Checks.docx) During the initial sow read through a basic sound effects list was created from the show directions (File:SFX List From Script.docx)