BROKE & SOBER

Broke & Sober is an original piece of theatre written and performed by Sam Cole. The work was presented at The Door, Birmingham Repertory Theatre in November 2019 as part of the Foundry Festival. Rep Foundry is the Rep’s artistic development programme that supports theatre makers, writers and directors in the creation of new work. The Foundry festival presents work by artists who have been part of the programme.

I composed music and designed the sound for this piece which tells the story of an army veteran who has returned from service in Iraq to find his life in chaos. His wife has died and his young daughter has been taken into care. These tragic circumstances, combined with PTSD, see him spiraling out of control trying to hold down a dead end job and turning to alcohol and drugs to cope. The story includes flashbacks to the war in Iraq and the horrors he had to endure giving context to his mental state and addictions. The sound design combined naturalistic warfare soundscapes with Arabian style music and stylised sound effects for the scenes set in Iraq and additional sonic motifs, such as a female humming vocal, were used to represent other characters. Contemporary electronic and urban music were combined with sound effects to support scenes where the character was getting inebriated as he struggled to deal with the realities and challenges he faced back home.