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"Stamped out by... atonal sounds by David Graves."
- Ryan Lattanzio, Daily Californian
In December 2009, Mark Jackson approached me to work on music and sound design for Shotgun Players' production of Mary Stuart. We worked on ideas for several months before the first rehearsals in August 2010. This extensive preliminary effort resulted in explicit ideas for its sound design; every rehearsal had sound cues and it really influenced the actors' work.
Adapted from Friedrich Schiller's original 200-year-old play, describing the machinations of England's court 400 years ago, it is replete with espionage, political double-takes, and intrigue that seems like a present-day "homeland security" epic. It opened in October for an extended run. Fueled by Mark's new translation and a contemporary set, my sound design created the feeling of an austere secret prison. A very ambitious project; the cast was outstanding.
Here are some sound samples from the play, as well as excerpts from reviews:
Queen Elizabeth's soundscape 
The garden
After intermission
The confession
Ryan's ranting
The closing
"David Graves' music/sound design -- no Disney music here! -- accents and shapes certain moments, and by extension, the play itself... It's a pleasure to witness him becoming a good theater composer, as specialized in its own way as film composer.
- Ken Bullock, The Berkeley Daily Planet
"The sound design of David Graves shakes your nerves and rattles your brain like a freight train in the night. Doors close with a boom, the pews of Shotgun's Ashby Stage quake, and the sounds of terror begin as thrilling, but by repetition, become jarring. Nobody sleeps through this play."
- John A. McMullen II, The Berkeley Daily Planet
"A clock ticks petulantly in the background. The whole set is an extension of Mary's psychology."
- Rachel Swan, East Bay Express