Mountain Mamas
by Daryl Lisa Fazio
Directed by Margaret M. Ledford
Barter Theatre
Smith Stage
June 22nd - August 9th, 2025
Production Team:
Scenic Design: Derek Smith
Costume Design: Lee Alexander Martin
Lighting Design: Andrew Morehouse
Sound Design & Original Music: Brandon Reed
About The Play
Patsy Armstrong is a coal miner. Just like her daddy, Earl. And just like her mother, Wanda, who was one of the first women ever hired underground in a union mine and, at 60 years old, is still there. As of this week, Patsy’s back in her mother and daddy’s house, after a mining accident that left her with no ability to move or communicate. Her bright 18-year old daughter, Livvy, now lives there too. In a home that’s full of humor and generosity and rowdiness and grit. But a home—not to mention a whole dang planet—that’s under more pressure than maybe it’s ever been. When the family gets news about the settlement from Patsy’s accident, Livvy jumps into the fray. And Patsy, now forced to listen and observe more than she ever did as a healthy person, is plagued by nightmares and revelations she’s able to share only with us. It doesn’t take long for her to realize she has to learn a new way of being if she’s gonna save her entire world.
Throughout the play we have brief moments where we jump back and forth in and out of Patsy’s mind. Often accompanied by her shooting up out of the wheel chair and sitting back down. To go with this we had brief piano notes that went with her feet touching the ground and we hear the soundscape of the mining facility. The piano note takes us back to reality when she sits back down. These happened often throughout.
Photos provided courtesy of Barter Theatre
From my first meeting with Margaret, she made it clear that the sound design needed to help the audience understand the two different worlds at play. The first world being the real world, that our family lives in. It needs to be based in realism and native to their region in the Appalachian Mountains. The second being the one that exists inside of Patsy’s mind. Where everything is bizarre and not quite how she remembers it. Both needed their own sonic characteristics, but as they play went on and Patsy is trying to force her way back into reality outside of her own head, we start seeing her mind intrude on reality in minor ways until she is finally able to break free and be back with her family.
For the real world, since their home is based in an unnamed town in the mountains, we chose to do it as if it was near Abingdon, VA where the theatre was based. The play uses different types of birds as symbolism for the different people in Patsy’s life. I wanted these birds to be native and accurate to the area. I found a bird preserve near Abingdon, and did a lot of research on birds in the area. In the end, we needed three distinct birds, so I went with the Golden Winged Warbler, the Wood Thrush, and the Scarlet Tanager. Afterwards, I found a sound recordist who spent time in underground mines, I listened and acquired some of those recordings for use in this production.
For the world inside of Patsy’s mind, I made sure we could hear those accurate field recordings around the theatre. I also placed a shotgun microphone in the grid towards the center of the stage, that would only turn on and feed Patsy’s dialogue to a reverb unit on the Behringer X32 that would feed the effect into the surround speakers. This placed the audience in the mines of her head. I also made liberal use of reverb to make the soundscape feel part of that environment. I also played with panning and moving the sounds of birds and other sounds throughout the theatre to create an immersive sound.
As Patsy showed signs of being concise in the real world, I introduced melodic piano plucks to tie the two worlds together. once we arrive at the end where she finally returns we hear a beautiful soundscape of nature as time and seasons pass. Showing that we must value nature and not man made machinery.
Top Of Show
The beginning of the play we hear an acoustic guitar giving off a feeling of isolation, but serene beauty. As it fades we hear the soundscape of being inside of a coal mine with steam and machinery moving about. Eventually we hear a voice over of a news broadcaster as protestors echo about the theatre. We learn that the youth want to close the mines due to the danger they pose to the environment and the folks of the town. As we fade into reality and meet Patsy who is in a vegetative state in a wheelchair, the soundscape fades away as the protestor fades to being inside of the TV.
The Sound Design
To The Mines
This is the first time we enter Patsy’s mind. As her father Earl leaves he turns on the TV for her to watch Fred Astaire. We hear, “Cheek to Cheek” playing from the TV, which ends up becoming the song she associates with her father. As the song plays, Patsy slowly raises from the wheel chair and the song begins to fade from the TV to fill the entire theatre as it reverberates. The mines come alive as we hear the sound of machinery and steam powering the space.
Dream Shifts
Looney Cave Collapse
Later in the play Patsy’s daughter Livvy decides to abandon the idea of going to college in order to work in the mines just like her mother and grandmother before her. She is distraught in that she wants to her to pursue her own dreams and ideas and not to worry about the family. This further escalates the next time we venture into her mind.
We hear the sound of Looney Tunes playing from the theatre and as we go back into Patsy’s mind perhaps reflecting her scrambled thoughts, it reverberates into the theatre as we hear the sounds of the machinery in the coal mine. We now see a younger version of Livvy that Patsy imagines in her mind. As she tries to encourage her to pursue her own dreams, the mines start to shift and rattle before eventually collapsing. We then auto follow into a musical transition that conveys a sense of longing, but is also dreamy.
Cheek to Cheek
Patsy is lost in her mind. Her family seems to be in chaos and she is unable to do anything. All while she’s trying to understand what caused her to end up in this state. We have another quick transition back to the mines. While there, she starts to breakdown and scream. As she finishes, the soundscape whooshes away into silence where it’s just her voice echoing in the theatre. She then hears a bird off in the distance, pulling her in. As she cautiously approaches the birds, they grow more restless. Eventually a whole swarm of birds fly out and surround her before they fade away to the other side of the theatre. As the last of them trickles out we hear a faint warm tone as we see her dad dressed as Fred Astaire. He provides some fatherly encouragement as they dance to “cheek to cheek” in the background. They dance together as the lighting and scenery dims around them.
End Of Show
Finally returning to reality, Patsy has broken free of her mind and is able to be with her family. In the end we find ourselves hearing an epilogue where Livvy has joined the protestors fighting against the mines. We hear the sound of nature returning with wind and birds, it’s healing. We start off with a sentimental guitar that I am playing to convey a sense of closure. We then hear a voice over of the news reporter from the beginning of the play recapping the town’s feelings towards the mines as the weather grows colder. We then fade in the mining soundscape one last time as we see Patsy’s mother still working in the mines to provide for her recovering family. We then fade back to the present where we hear Livvy from the TV. As her monologue progresses, it and the sounds of the protestors fill fade to fill the space. We are surrounding the audience with the sounds of nature and people. As her monologue finishes, the TV turns off. We are left to listen to nature healing as we fade to black.