Musicology Annotation << Back Musical and Sound Design in Theatrical Productions of the Early 21st Century Verbitskaia Ekaterina, Kostiuk Ekaterina The musical and sound design of the play is an important part of its artistic and figurative expressiveness. Historically, both music and sounds have always been of particular importance in this process in the theater, and various technologies have been used to create the musical specifics of a dramatic production. However, it was in the 20th century, with the advent of the profession of sound engineer, that new possibilities of aesthetic and expressive design opened up with the help of technology when creating a performance. Technological progress in the late 20th and early 21st centuries significantly enriched the volume of sound expressive means and influenced the development of theatrical art in the 21st century, making the sound engineer a co- creator of the play. Audio equipment in the conditions of the performance of the beginning of the XXI century. They acquire new functions that are not limited to the pragmatics of sound amplification. They acquire the meaning of an instrument in the musical and sound score of a performance, to which the sound engineer "prescribes the part" in detail in accordance with the artistic task. Keywords: music, musical design, theater, sound, audio technology, art, sound engineering, musical and artistic imagery. DOI: 10.25791/musicology.2.2025.1417 Pp. 21-26.