Stage Lighting Designer
The house lights dim, and the crowd settles into an expectant hush, each holding his breath in anticipation. The curtains open, and the play begins. It may begin in darkness, with a voice booming from all directions. It may open with a blacklit stage, actors using choreographed motion to draw your eyes to masks, gloves, or banners of white. Overhead canister lights may bathe the stage in soft red glow, perhaps signifying love, or perhaps bloodshed. A single spotlight might pick out an actor, delivering his opening lines with emotion, or with humor, or with the conspiring voice of narration. Or the stage may be flooded with brilliant light, revealing a set reminiscent of a gorgeous sunny day.
Lighting is one of the most important, and least recognized, aspects of any theatrical production. In the theatre, lighting tells a story. It sets the mood. It draws the eyes of the audience to the right place on stage. And theatrical lighting is technically challenging to plan, install, and operate. Additionally, good lighting designers rarely hear their praises sung, because like make-up, good lighting is not noticed. Good lighting convinces the audience, without the audience ever knowing why.
Finding a skilled lighting technician is critical to the overall direction of any show, and yet, lighting design skills are rare in the theatre world. In particular, smaller community and school theatres may find themselves lacking qualified volunteers. If you are a director or stage manager, and you find yourself stuck with the duty of designing the lighting for your production, embrace the challenge. Although you may not hear your praises sung specifically, if you hear compliments on the show as a whole, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you created the ambience.
When designing lighting for the first time, it helps to envision each scene in your head. If the scene were real, what would the lighting look like? Does the scene take place in the sun? Try using floodlights. Does it take place at night? The lighting should be dim.
Lighting is a great tool for drawing the eyes of the audience wherever you or the director want them to go. Is there a set change going on stage left while a family dines together on the right? Darken the entire stage, and illuminate the dining table with a spot. Spotlights can also be used to convey two scenes taking place simultaneously, but geographically separated, such as two characters speaking on the telephone. Darken the entire stage and train spotlights on each of the characters.
Certain color filters may help enhance the mood. Does the scene take place in winter? Try blue or green filters. A battlefield can be bathed in red, as can the bodies of two lovers in the heat of passion, or a single character delivering an angry monologue. Use your creativity to match up your colors with the mood.
Lighting design is an art form, just like most aspects of any theatrical production. If you find yourself performing the role of lighting designer in a theatrical production, embrace the opportunity and explore your creative side. Have fun with it!
