(Luke Harbor)
Sound Mandala is unlike any other piece of theatre you’re likely to find at this year’s KC Fringe, or anywhere, for that matter. Along with 39 other audience members, you’ll be seated in a dim room whose walls are lined with dozens of loudspeakers, intricately laid out to carry you through an experience that simulates a sort of movement through sound.
Sound Mandala presents us with a series of short sound experiences: a variety of music genres, a reading from Chekhov, a burst of Pac-Man. A three-part monologue performed by Manon Halliburton gives the project a bit of narrative structure, taking on the role of a person with “an unsound mind.” This mind has unusual neural pathways—a visual cortex mapped to an auditory cortex—creating a mess of ”multi-sensory integration.” This is, the character tells us, “the sonic landscape that is my mind.” And for about 50 minutes, we’ve been invited to live inside it.
Some segments of this program work better than others in conveying the “motion of sound.” Lively musical numbers almost give the impression that we are sitting in the middle of a jam session, though the seemingly random ping-ponging of the sounds between different speakers undermines the logic of that space, detracting from the actual movement effect. Another segment, “Gotta Catch My Breath: Take 81,” features an artist (MusicbySkippy) beatboxing, and here, the apparent randomness is extremely effective, giving us the feeling that we are existing inside the artist’s mouth. The chaotic effect is thrilling.
For many plays, movies, and other narrative works of art, we’re used to being told to go in knowing as little about the work as possible, to enhance our experience. With Sound Mandala, I would recommend the opposite—learn as much as you can about the project ahead of time. There is no introduction or program note to give context to the experience, and while the program is enjoyable enough on its own, that context is essential to understand what it is you’re witnessing, the passion and extreme skill that went into creating it, and where it might go in the future. Because while the version of Sound Mandala onstage at the KC Fringe is an exciting experience, this is just one step in the process of developing a new way of presenting sound in a range of areas from art installations to haunted houses to spiritual or meditative events.
This experience will likely be most engaging for those with a special interest in sound mechanics, but beyond the impressive precision of the sound, there’s also a sense of joy and a uniqueness to this project that makes it likely to appeal to all KC Fringe audiences.
Sound Mandala, part of KC Fringe, runs at the Black Box Theatre (lower level) of the James C. Olson Performing Arts Center (4949 Cherry Street) through July 27. For tickets, visit kcfringe.org. For more information about the experience, visit soundmandala.org.
