Baharul Islam with wife Bhagirathi at Seagull Theatre Academy

July 13: The power of sound is not to be underestimated, especially when it comes to getting the message across loud and clear on stage.

Award-winning theatre director-actor Baharul Islam will conduct special classes on sound designing for aspiring theatre actors and technicians at his city-based drama school.

Sound designing deals with all audio-related aspects onstage, including sound effects and the technicalities of background score, recording, voice modulation and volume control.

Islam, also a music composer, will also conduct special workshops on sound designing at Seagull Theatre Academy on RG Baruah Road from August.

His team of musicians will assist him in his endeavour.

“Most newcomers hardly understand the concept of sound designing in theatre. The sound track can comprise the background music, song and dance sequence or the voice of the actor. A play has to have a proper sound track to make an impact. But unfortunately, in spite of so many drama productions, we are lagging behind in developing the concept of sound designing,” said Islam, recipient of the prestigious Manohar Singh Award given by National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi.

“One does not have to be a singer or musician or an orator to be an expert in sound designing. However, it is necessary to understand the nuances of music, rhythm and voice modulation. An intuitive knowledge of the sound track is a must for any person to evolve into a fine actor and technician. I am planning to start a series of special workshops on sound designing at my theatre school.”

Sarod player Tarun Chandra Kalita and Islam will conduct the first workshop at the theatre academy.

Sound designing, a field yet to be fully explored in the struggling theatre industry of the city, is sure to get a major boost as a result of Islam’s initiative.

An alumnus of NSD, New Delhi, Islam ventured into sound designing nearly two decades back. At the time, the city had no experts in the field.

“I compose the musical score tracks for my plays. I don’t believe in introducing music into a particular scene just for the sake of it. The presence of music in a play depends on the theme. I also believe in using unconventional musical instruments like a wooden or bamboo stick to produce sound bites,” said Islam.

Islam had no formal training in music and owes his musical knowledge to giants of Indian theatre, B.V. Karanth and Bhaskar Chandravarkar. However, he has been playing the violin and the tabla since childhood and is a singer as well.

Some of the plays, which have won much acclaim for Islam are Jatra, Gadhonitya and Hamlet, to name a few.

Islam, along with his wife Bhagirathi, formed the Seagull Theatre Academy in 1990. Bhagirathi is the principal of the academy, which also incorporates a children’s acting school.