THEODORE J.H. HULSKER

Sound Design, Projection Design, Art Curation, Performance Artist, Musician, Impresario

415-272-4324

Welcome to my website!

I’m a San Francisco Bay Area native who has been designing and creating theater professionally since 2010. In 2012 I received my BA from San Francisco State University, where I graduated as Drama Department Honoree. Since then my sound designs have been heard in numerous theaters within the Bay Area and across the nation. Recently, with support from the San Francisco Playhouse, I’ve had the opportunity to study projection design and to incorporate this new element into my career. I’ve received numerous nominations for my design work from Bay Area Theater Critics Circle, Theater Bay Area, and TSDCA. In 2012 I received the Eric Landisman fellowship grant which identified me as an emerging designer.

Sound design, which requires active listening, has guided my approach in my other creative pursuits. In addition to my work as a designer I also devise and curate new theatrical experiences with San Francisco based company Mugwumpin and my own Oakland based company Klanghaus. Started out of pocket in mid 2015, Klanghaus received Theater Bay Area’s CA$H grant in 2016 to fund another year of monthly happenings and continued development of new works.

I strive to bring a flexible, imaginative, and supportive attitude to any creative endeavor I embark on. Each production and collaboration is an opportunity to further develop my craft.

FROM THE REVIEWS

Red Velvet/ San Francisco Playhouse/ 2016"The San Francisco Playhouse production is beautifully mounted. Pointedly furnished and filled with Theodore J.H. Hulsker’s fine and fitting projections, Gary English set frames the action in an ele… — **Red Velvet/ San Francisco Playhouse/ 2016**
"The San Francisco Playhouse production is beautifully mounted. Pointedly furnished and filled with Theodore J.H. Hulsker’s fine and fitting projections, Gary English set frames the action in an elegant proscenium. The flickering, shadow-haunted light (by Kurt Landisman), ghostly sound design (Hulsker again) and sumptuous but aptly confining costumes (Abra Berman) cast a palpable enchantment."
-San Francisco Chronicle

Swimmers/Marin Theater Company/2016" Scenic designer Dane Laffrey capitalizes on the sameness of such offices to make smooth transitions between the many floors as the ominous drone in Theodore J.H. Hulsker’s soundscape seems to emerge from the… — **Swimmers/Marin Theater Company/2016**
" Scenic designer Dane Laffrey capitalizes on the sameness of such offices to make smooth transitions between the many floors as the ominous drone in Theodore J.H. Hulsker’s soundscape seems to emerge from the buzzing fluorescent lights. "
-San Francisco Chronicle
"Dane Laffrey’s low-ceilinged, boxy set gives a claustrophobic feeling from the outset, enhanced by the subliminally oppressive droning noises in Theodore J.H. Hulsker’s sound design."
-Marin Independent Journal

The Nether/ San Francisco Playhouse/ 2015"Bill English directs with his customary sensitivity, mindful of pace — the set changes seem to occur instantaneously — and of production values, which include Theodore J.H. Hulsker’s eerie sound design and B… — **The Nether/ San Francisco Playhouse/ 2015**
"Bill English directs with his customary sensitivity, mindful of pace — the set changes seem to occur instantaneously — and of production values, which include Theodore J.H. Hulsker’s eerie sound design and Brooke Jennings’ lovely period costumes."
-SF Examiner

The Rover/ Shotgun Players/ 2015"Real fear also courses through the Shotgun Players’ production of Aphra Behn’s Restoration comedy, The Rover. Set in Naples during carnival season, it’s a fast, sharp farce with a nasty, vicious edge, dexterousl… — **The Rover/ Shotgun Players/ 2015**
"Real fear also courses through the Shotgun Players’ production of Aphra Behn’s Restoration comedy, *The Rover*. Set in Naples during carnival season, it’s a fast, sharp farce with a nasty, vicious edge, dexterously directed by M. Graham Smith with a brilliant sound design by Theodore J.H. Hulsker."
-KQED

Into the Woods/ San Francisco Playhouse/ 2014“The evocative set by Nina Ball and inventive costumes by Abra Berman create just the right tone of whimsy and mystery. Exceptional sound (design by Theodore J.H. Hulsker, engineering by Anton Hedman) mak… — **Into the Woods/ San Francisco Playhouse/ 2014**
“The evocative set by Nina Ball and inventive costumes by Abra Berman create just the right tone of whimsy and mystery. Exceptional sound (design by Theodore J.H. Hulsker, engineering by Anton Hedman) make it possible to appreciate every nuance of the cast’s nimble delivery of Sondheim’s crisp lyrics and Dave Dobrusky’s outstanding music direction of the rich score.”
-SFexaminer

Seminar/ San Francisco Playhouse/ 2014“Glazer keeps the action moving at a crisp clip that accentuates Rebeck's comedy while allowing space for the poignant impact of Leonard's most hurtful barbs. If there's more than a whiff of wishful thinking in … — **Seminar/ San Francisco Playhouse/ 2014**
“Glazer keeps the action moving at a crisp clip that accentuates Rebeck's comedy while allowing space for the poignant impact of Leonard's most hurtful barbs. If there's more than a whiff of wishful thinking in the way "Seminar" winds up, it's been a pleasure overall. Somehow, as anachronistic as it may be, the pounding typewriter-key music of Theodore J.H. Hulsker's soundscape adds the play's perfect punctuation.”
**-SFgate 2014**
“Glazer’s direction is subtle and supple; allowing the actors to have their backs to the audience at times and giving Izzy room to stretch her sexual sinews. The set, by Bill English, is a delightful surprise in the very last scene when it shifts to something else altogether both metaphorically and physically. Sound Designer Theodore J. H. Hulsker gives us frantic music as an overlay to typing sounds that grows more and more militaristic as the 100-minute play reaches its conclusion.”
**- abeastinajungle.com 2014**

Strangers, Babies/ Shotgun Players/ 2013“Nina Ball's set elicits a sense of disconnection from the outset. It's a square platform with a moat of space between it and the walls to either side. Tracy makes things especially dramatic by ending each sce… — **Strangers, Babies/ Shotgun Players/ 2013**
“Nina Ball's set elicits a sense of disconnection from the outset. It's a square platform with a moat of space between it and the walls to either side. Tracy makes things especially dramatic by ending each scene with a sudden, jarring chime (courtesy of sound designer Theodore J.H. Hulsker), followed by the rear wall rising to show all four other men, who somberly execute the next scene change.”
**-KQED.org 2013**

The Chairs / Cutting Ball Theater/ 2013“while Theodore J.H. Hulsker's murmuring sound design of crashing waves, angry winds, and the strident doorbell could almost be another character in the play, so thoroughly does it set the tone in ways that Ion… — **The Chairs** **/ Cutting Ball Theater/ 2013**
“while Theodore J.H. Hulsker's murmuring sound design of crashing waves, angry winds, and the strident doorbell could almost be another character in the play, so thoroughly does it set the tone in ways that Ionesco might not have approved of, but is all the better for.”
**-SFBG.com**
"Theodore J.H. Hulsker’s subtle sound design that sometimes seems to be transmitted faintly from another world.”
**-SFexaminer**

Assassins /Shotgun Players/ 2012“The sense of intimate reality was helped by the sound design of Theodore J. H. Hulsker. With director Martin he devised a soundscape giving each scene its own feeling of inhabiting a very real world, from burning bar… — **Assassins /Shotgun Players/ 2012**
“The sense of intimate reality was helped by the sound design of Theodore J. H. Hulsker. With director Martin he devised a soundscape giving each scene its own feeling of inhabiting a very real world, from burning barn to city sidewalk. Martin and Hulsker added a great many sound effects to the cues specified in the script to build that sense of sonic density; for "Something Just Broke," they pre-recorded the cast and musicians performing the first third of the lyrics so as to have them delivered via an on-stage radio-like device that expanded to house speakers that enveloped the audience in the collective memory of moments when each person learned of the assassination of a president.”
**- The Sondhiem Review 2012**

SAM SHEPARD IN REP/ Boxcar Theater/ 2012“”Even the physical foundation of their home is no longer stable: it creaks so vociferously (Theodore J.H. Hulsker did the sound design) as to become a character in its own right.”-Sfweekly “and a choice, eeri… — **SAM SHEPARD IN REP/ Boxcar Theater/ 2012**
“”Even the physical foundation of their home is no longer stable: it creaks so vociferously (Theodore J.H. Hulsker did the sound design) as to become a character in its own right.”
**-Sfweekly**
“and a choice, eerie sound design by Theodore J.H Hulsker — adds tangible weight and texture to the play's radiant dialogue”
**-SFBG**