Auditoria Shapes the Technical Experience Behind Becoming Marilyn Monroe

Auditoria delivered the technical design for Becoming Marilyn Monroe, a new immersive exhibition now open at Lichthalle MAAG in Zurich.

Created by The Storytelling Company, the project marks what would have been Marilyn Monroe’s 100th year, but rather than retelling a familiar story, it looks more closely at how that story was constructed, from Norma Jeane Mortenson through to the making of Marilyn Monroe.

The result is an experience that sits somewhere between exhibition and film. Visitors move through a sequence of environments that shift in scale and tone, from more intimate, reflective moments into a large-format immersive sequence, before opening out into a series of spaces that explore the mechanics of filmmaking and celebrity.

Auditoria were engaged on the project by Michaela Fragner, Project Manager at The Storytelling Company, to design the technical systems across audio, video and show control, working alongside Okula to deliver the installation.

One of the first conversations centred on how the story should be heard. Much of the narrative is drawn directly from Monroe’s own words, including material from her personal diaries, which shaped the direction of the audio design.

“It felt important that the voice stayed close to the listener,” says Joe Callister, Technical Director at Auditoria. “If you move that out into a shared loudspeaker system, you lose the intimacy of Marilyn’s voice. The audio guides gave us a way to keep it more personal, which suits the tone of the exhibition.”

That decision introduced a different set of challenges. The exhibition runs in English, German and French with visitors moving through the same spaces at the same time.

Auditoria developed an audio guide system, in collaboration with Tonwelt, of around 300 devices, synchronised via timecode over RF, allowing each visitor to hear the content in their chosen language while remaining aligned with the overall show. Tonwelt worked on site alongside Auditoria to install, programme and commission the system.

“You’ve got people experiencing the same moment in different languages, but it still needs to feel like a shared experience,” Callister explains. “A lot of the work is making sure that stays in sync.”

Alongside the audio system, the exhibition brings together a substantial projection and media infrastructure. Around 18 projectors are used across the space, including a fully immersive environment with projection across walls and floor, as well as additional high-resolution surfaces and a holographic sequence.

Playback and control are managed through a combination of media servers and Q-SYS-based system architecture, coordinating content across multiple zones and maintaining timing between audio, video and interactive elements.

The result is a technically layered installation, but one that remains deliberately understated in how it presents itself.

“There’s quite a lot going on behind the scenes,” Callister adds. “But the aim is that none of that is what people notice. If it’s working properly, you’re just following the story.”

Becoming Marilyn Monroe is currently running in Zurich and has been designed to tour, with the underlying system developed to adapt to future venues.