Coping with Autumn
Produced by Theatre Unchained at Arts for Lawerance
Photo by Indy Ghostlight
Autumn finds herself convicted of her boyfriend's murder that she doesn't remember committing. As she relives her broken childhood and the hardships that have led up to this breaking point she talks about her mental defense mechanisms that take the form of three women who are figments of her imagination.
Produced by Theatre Unchained at Arts for Lawrence
Director - Megan Anne Jacobs, Sound Design and Music Composition - Aidan Sturgeon,
Stage Manager - Case Jacobs, Lighting Design - Tim Dick.
The music box in Coping with Autumn signified Autumn's initial loss of innocence. As we watch the relationship of Autumn's parents fall apart in from of her that eventually leads to the first appearance of Dee, Autumn's first coping mechanism. We hear the music box playing a melody that I rearranged called Que Sera, a nursery rhyme, devolve into this loss of innocence.
Throughout the rest of the play, I used the melody, and the music box as a motif when Autumn's relationship in the play eventually goes south.
This is a condensed transition as Autumn, our protagonist succumbs to the darkness that has consumed her in the face of her abusive relationship. As she attempts to take her life we hear a dream-like transition to her hospital bed. Later in the scene, when Autumn's abuser entered the room I used vamps to modulate the rate at which her heart monitor was pulsing. Which gave the effect of her heart rate rising as she saw her abuser.
This transition is from a party atmosphere to a late summer Indiana evening where Autumn spills a bag of drugs on the floor, makes a scene, and runs out to eventually be comforted by her soon-to-be abuser.
This is a piece of music that I wrote to underscore Autumn's last monologue. We wanted to show that her situation wasn't as bleak as it seemed and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.