Projects
Immersive Sound in Community Spaces
Immersive Sound in Community Spaces
Exploring how sound design can be used to create immersive atmospheres in community spaces, working to the parameters of small scale rural and community touring. This will include investigating how remote triggers can be used within performance design to enable solo performers to operate sound cues mid-performance.
This project is focussed on exploring immersive sound design for a wide range of community settings such as library, museums, community centres and theatres. We will explore how sound can be used to alter the feel of familiar environments in a gentle way that ensures audiences feel welcome and secure in the setting. The design also needs to respond to the parameters of small scale touring - be flexible, robust, dynamic, and rigged/de-rigged swiftly. An additional element will be looking at how sound cues can then be operated onstage by a solo performer using different remote triggers, so that audiences remain immersed in the storytelling.
Explore
£5,000
Aims of the project
Working with a team of creatives including sound designer, composer, production manager and creative technologist, we will R&D different systems for responding to the brief. In the first instance, this learning will be applied to a new production, Footy Fairy Tales, which is touring in Spring 2026.
This will enable us to offer a high quality sound design that immerses the audience in the world of football (and fairy tales) from chanting crowds to angry trolls. Through exploring ways for the solo-performer to operate sound discreetly from stage, we can lift production values whilst also keeping the price of the show affordable for small venues with limited programming budget.
Once Footy Fairy Tales is completed, there will be a period of review and reflection with the creative team where we evaluate the success of the R&D. This will enable us to identify elements that can be improved on, and also take the learning through into future Yarnbird projects, including further small scale productions.
Meet Yarnbird Arts
Helen Slevin
Lead Artist & Producer
she/her
Helen is a theatre and events producer with over 10 years experience. Having previously worked in stage management, Helen moved into producing when she completed a secondment on the New Vic Theatre’s ambitious Hoard Festival. Since then Helen has become Co-Director of Yarnbird Arts and worked for a range of organisation’s including Claybody Theatre, Appetite Stoke, and video design studio PixelLux. Helen also completed an MA in International Cultural Policy at the University of Warwick.
Sophia Hatfield
Writer, Performer & Composer
she/her
Sophia is a theatre-maker and facilitator with a diverse practice that includes writing, composing, producing and performing. Sophia began writing and producing storytelling performances for library and community spaces in 2016 and is Co-Director of Yarnbird Arts.
