The Language Archive
Written by Julia Cho
Produced by Hollingsworth Hall Cultural Center
Directed by James Cross, Costume Design by Justin Gonzales, Lighting Design by Oliver A. Folger, Scenic Design by James Cross
The recordings used in this “tape” are a combination of ones I took of our cast, crew, and creative team reading “I love you” in various languages that they knew how to pronounce and various recordings I found online in language tutorial videos, vlogs, TikTok videos, and more.
The Language Archive is a story about love, humanity, and communication. It explores the very different ways different people communicate, and fail to. George, a linguist professor who can speaks and studies countless languages, still cannot find the words to save his marriage.
This production was a research adventure, and an enthralling one at that. The show ends with a recording of a large number of various people speaking various languages from all over the world saying their version of “I love you”, and figuring out how to make something like that was a good challenge. In addition, I implemented sound effects and music to help communicate setting and enhance emotional impact.
Audio Samples
This pre-show cue is a combination of meditative music underscoring and files I pulled from an archival website that compiles recordings of native speakers of endangered and extinct languages. Some of the recordings are of people telling stories, and the others are of them singing cultural songs. The idea behind this ambience is twofold. One, the audience is listening to what is meant to be a series of various recordings that George has taken in the Language Archive he manages. Second, it means to