content

Patrick Keating

Maiko Bae Yamamoto

Andreas Kahre

Noah Drew

Adrienne Wong

Barbara Clayden

Alex Ferguson

Ilena Lee Cramer

Erin Wells

James Long

what we do

A Vehicle For Loyalty

My professional career effectively started when I crossed paths with Norman. In 1998, I was at the end of my theatre and music degrees at SFU. Norman and Andreas came up do a production of Jason Sherman's Three In the Back, Two In the Head. Norman directed, and Andreas designed the set. Having fooled around with sound design a few times, I decided I'd like to try my hand at doing the sound design for a full production, and contacted Norman a couple of months before rehearsals started. He agreed.

Despite a few technical blunders on my part, the experience was a great one. Norman, Andreas and I found we were able to speak the same conceptual language, and both of them did a lot of mentoring of my nascent design instincts. Shortly after the show finished, I got a call from a choreographer I'd never met asking if I'd be interested in doing a sound-score for a short dance piece. Andreas had passed on my number to her. The gig paid a small honorarium. All of a sudden, I had a freelance career.

I'm not sure at this point whether Rumble is the company I've worked with the most times, but it's definitely the company I've worked with in the greatest variety of ways. Under the Rumble banner, I've been a sound designer, a composer, a playwright, a director, a dramaturg and an actor. Not to mention a technician, a foley designer, a transmissions guest-editor and an occasional bingo volunteer. And what's important about this list of jobs isn't really its diversity. What's important is that this eclectic list of roles adds up to a relationship that goes deeper than any individual project or artistic discipline. I feel that Rumble has invested itself in me, as broadly and deeply as I imagine my own identity. Rumble has supported me in being an all-terrain theatre guy.

There are some artistic directors I've worked with who have filled my voicemail with cheerful persistence when seeking a sound designer, but who have forgotten to phone me back when I've asked about auditioning for a role in their season, or who just haven't found the time to read a script I've written. Norman has always taken a moment for a phone call, an email, and an impromptu street corner chat, whatever the topic. That's loyalty, and it engenders loyalty.