26 Pebbles
26 Pebbles is a docudrama following the events surrounding and during the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012. The text of the play is lifted from interviews with residents of the town conducted by the playwright. Ulloa seeks to convey the strength of the community to endure such a horrible tragedy.
The first track you hear is the glass of the school window being shot out followed a cacophony of phones giving way to the prerecorded message sent out to the parents in the school district.
The second track is Obama’s speech at the candlelight vigil in response to the tragedy followed by Wayne LaPierre’s speech at the NRA press conference in response to the tragedy. I wanted to further juxtapose the two speeches beyond their obvious differences in tone and message. I chose to underscore Obama’s speech with a stretched out and texturized version of Come Thou Fount, a hymn that is sung multiple times in the play. LaPierre’s speech is underscored with a tonal texture I created for the show that feels anxious, suspenseful, and dangerous.
The third track is the sound of the media descending on the town following the events of the shooting.
Directed by Sarah Boess
Associate Sound Designer: Angelica Alvarez
Scenic Design by Sean Perreira
Lighting Design by Hannah Solomon