Selected Press Quotes
DO NOT GO GENTLE
Meanwhile, sound designer Julian Starr and composer Alan John create a beautifully melancholic atmosphere, with the interplay of music and Marilyn Richardson’s stunning operatic singing proving quite haunting. The atmospheric sound is particularly effective, however, when it makes the environment feel hostile and immense, as howling Antarctic winds and a sense of isolation reinforce the characters’ imagined expedition while also reflecting the metaphor of ageing.
Blue Curtains Theatre Review
PRIMA FACIE
The sound design by Julian Starr is a standout element, functioning almost as a co-performer. Starr provides a throbbing nightclub pulse that feels insistent, a rhythm of ambition that underscores Tessa’s ascent. However, it is the more delicate work that lingers.
The blending of live microphone moments with the audio soundscape creates a haunting effect; echoes and blurred traces of recognisability reflect the fragmented nature of what director Heather Fairbairn describes in the program as a memory play.
There is a profound humanity in the audio choices. The use of Coldplay to underscore Tessa’s attempts to swoon in her apartment is grounded and relatable, while the interlinking sound cues that shift us through time and space are almost breath-like in their execution. It creates a blurring of the professional and the personal, reminding us that under the wig, there is a human heart beating at a frantic pace.
ArtsHub Australia - Kyle Walmsley
YENTL
Sound designer Julian Starr, with designer and composer Max Lyandvert, subtly build tension through abstract strings, distant voices and electronic pulses.
The Spy in the Stalls - Hannah Bothelton
Sound is also crucial to Yentl, with Max Lyandvert’s original design and Julian Starr for this production incredibly utilised. Underscoring at key moments, it proves atmospheric through its faultless execution, elevating the production and increasing the impact in key moments.
All That Dazzle - Daz Gale
SEAGULL: TRUE STORY
Underscored by Fedor Zhuravlev and Julian Starr’s sensational music and sound design, Nostalgia, irony, and absurdity collapse into one another.
A Youngish Perspective - Ke Meng
Julian Starr’s sound design adds a continual layer of realism (I especially love the little splashes in the bath), punctuated by showy flourishes which reassert the falseness of the theatre.
The Spy in the Stalls - Hannah Bothelton
4 PLAY
This is complemented by Julian Starr’s faultless sound design, with original music from Benedict Cork, and a smattering of classics (I approve of any show that includes a bit of Janet Jackson), ensuring FOUR PLAY always sounds every bit as fabulous as it looks.
All That Dazzle - Daze Gale
The production is beautifully supported by Julian Starr’s evocative sound design, which subtly enhances the shifting moods on stage.
Theatre Weekly - Greg Stewart
THIS BITTER EARTH
Julian Starr’s sound and soundscape design bring another energy to This Bitter Earth, reflecting the often frantic nature as intensity increases during some of the darker moments of the play.
All That Dazzle - Daz Gale
The show moves with rhythm and musicality and a pleasing fluidity controlled with music, under the expert watch of sounds and soundscape designer Julian Starr.
West End Best Friend - Louisa Clarke
ROSE
Julian Starr soundtracks the piece with a delicate, sombre score of melodic piano and stately, throbbing strings. Crackly fragments of ambient sound occasionally swell beneath Lipman’s words, illustrating particularly vivid memories, from the tinny fairground music drifting over the Atlantic City boardwalk to the folk song played on a creaky accordion by a refugee bound for Palestine.
The Stage - Dave Fargnoli
Gentle soundscape offered by Julian Starr all lend themselves to nurturing the shadows of Rose’s past as Lipman engrossingly ploughs on with impressive stamina and unrelenting emotional depth.
WhatsonStage - Gareth Carr
DIAGNOSIS
A throbbing red light comes in through a lone window and Julian Starr’s pulsing soundscape ratchets up the tension.
The Guardian - Miriam Gillinson
SONGS FROM FAR AWAY
Julian Starr’s sound design lets Willem’s words be heard as clearly as they are meant, with every tremble or infliction used for maximum impact.
All That Dazzle - Daz Gale
Julian Starr does his usual fine job on a thoroughly evocative soundscape.
London Theatre Reviews
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HOLY FOOL
Sound design from Julian Starr, which fills the auditorium with an unsettling combination of whispering voices and thundering bombs, is also noteworthy.
The Stage - Holly O'Mahony
A word of praise too for Julian Starr’s sound design. Obviously there’s a lot of music and I liked the atmospheric tuning up and applause effects. His depiction of the terrifying siege of Leningrad is almost too real – he had me wanting to duck beneath my Row A seat. And he provides effective menacing undertones when the drama is at its most tense.
Susan Elkin Reviews
THE WHITE FACTORY
Julian Starr adds to the clinical setting with a subtly understated and softly haunting soundscape that has a plaintive piano motif repeated throughout.
BroadwayBaby - Richard Beck
SCROUNGER
Julian Starr's sound design accentuates the precise script, highlighting the tonal shifts and animating the atmosphere. The background music turns into a soundtrack to dark situational comedy followed by loud silences when Stevens aims for the jugular with a straight-shooting political touch.
BroadwayWorld - Cindy Marcolina
Julian Starr’s impressively inventive sound design makes it all the more engaging.
The Stage - JN Benjamin
Sound designer Julian Starr ensure that the 100 minutes has a spikey, surreal Kafkaesque quality.
Lyn Gardner