Good Vibrations
An American Idiot-Inspired Activity for Elementary Aged Punks and Up
Sound is movement. You can feel this phenomenon any time you speak – try laying your hand on your throat while you speak, or hum, and you should feel a buzzing sensation. The buzzing you feel is vibration created by your vocal cords that move through space to create sound.
“As the sound designer, I spent a lot of time thinking about how to include everyone in my design. I was really interested in how to add the vibration of the beat onstage, so that the cast can feel the music. We have two subwoofers onstage, allowing the cast to feel the rhythm, as well as the usual monitors hidden around the stage to transmit the music to the cast. It's been exciting to think about sound as movement, similar to the way the ASL allows words to become dance.” – Cricket S Myers, Sound Designer for American Idiot
Duration: 5 minutes
Materials
- Balloon
- Speaker
- Song
- Earplugs
Instructions
If you are a hearing person and want to experience sound as vibration, here's a quick and easy way to feel the vibrations that create sound:
- Select a song to play. One with a good bass line will be best for this activity.
- Connect your song-playing device to your speaker.
- Insert earplugs so you can’t hear the music.
- Inflate balloon and hold it near the speaker.
- Press play!
The thin rubber of a balloon is an effective vibration conductor and should move along with the music's rhythm. If you take off your shoes, you might be able to feel the vibrations in the soles of your feet as well.
About the Show
The music of Green Day and the lyrics of lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong captured the zeitgeist of a generation with its Grammy Award®-winning multi-platinum album, which is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary. American Idiot puts those raw emotions front and center in a highly theatrical and thoroughly satisfying rock opera that burns up the stage.
This groundbreaking, new production, directed by Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Snehal Desai, and produced in collaboration with Deaf West Theatre, features an ensemble of both Deaf and hearing actors, and is performed simultaneously in American Sign Language and spoken English.
Learn More
As you watch American Idiot, you’ll notice that this production was designed to be accessible to both hearing and Deaf actors and audience members. You may feel extra vibrations yourself if you’re sitting close to the stage! What other choices did the director and design team make to create a more inclusive production?
This companion activity can be done before or after seeing the production and utilizes materials you probably have in your home or classroom. We invite families, educators, and other audience members to use or adapt these activities, which were created for Center Theatre Group by Resident Teaching Artists Christine Breihan and Estela Garcia. You can find a companion activity on the show pages for all productions in our 2024/2025 season.
Download Activity!