“Unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced, one of the most interesting pieces of theater I’ve ever seen. A timely, poignant, and surprising show. An incredible cast and crew, full of creativity and technical mastery. I was truly blown away.” – Audience Member

Ghost Ride was an outdoor play, in which both actors and audience rode bicycles along a bike path. The first act of the show, which occurred in daylight, followed the life of a bicycle courier throughout an afternoon, before he was hit and killed by a car. As the sun set, the second act explored his experience of the afterlife. The audience listened to music and voiceovers while riding between stops to watch a scene. You can find more information (and a trailer!) of the production here.

To capture the intimacy of the after-death experience, as well as ensure the audience could properly hear the actors, everyone was given a set of headphones. They wore these headphones throughout the show, allowing them to listen to the mic’d actors, background sounds, music, and voiceovers. The first act was full of realistic sounds, but once the sun set, Jaren Feeley’s poignant score came alive in each audience member’s personal headphones. The intimacy of hearing the show on headphones added to and built the ethereal world of the afterlife.

For this show, I built a tricycle with all the necessary sound equipment, so I could ride next to the production. I used an FM radio transmitter to broadcast the show audio to FM radios that we gave to each audience member. The bike allowed me to live mix the actors’ mics, while also containing an audio playback QLab rig. The whole tricycle was battery-powered. Please look through some pictures of the tricycle below.