Sound - music in a suitcase

I've been experimenting with ways to make the sound come out of the bag. I first of all looked for a small CD player with a speaker, but any I found were too big, and I was concerned about the CD jumping with any movement.

I then decided to try my small singular speaker which plugs into an MP3 player. I put the track on a playlist and put the speaker and MP3 into the bag. At first it was difficult to find in the bag, so I tried placing it in one of the inner pockets, which zips up so when I turn the suitcase over it won't fall out. Unzipping the compartment and finding the buttons took too long and again interrupted the continuity of the piece. I ended up taping the speaker and player to the inside of the pocket in the bag, so that when the bag is opened it is not visible to the audience. I could then leave the zip open without the fear of the device falling out, and it meant I could rehearse knowing exactly where the buttons would be to cue the music at the right point.

I really love the feel and mood created by having sound coming from onstage and inside the bag. It is an idea developed from my previous intermedia piece 'The Ward' where I came up with the idea of one of the characters playing a song which is important to her from a radio which is onstage. In Railway, I am excited to get into the main space to rehearse the switch from onstage sound to sound coming from the monitors.

The fact the sound comes from the suitcase also strenghtens the sense that the bag is Moira's world; her memories, her life.