CHAPTER XIII

LIGHTING

The Importance of Lighting

It is entirely proper that lighting should be the technical element of play production that has been left for final consideration. Not only was it the last element to be developed historically, but we are only just beginning to realize that it is perhaps most important of all, as it is more capable of fusing the play into an artistic and unified design than is any other single element. Its important bearing on the success and effectiveness of the scenery, costuming, make-up, and even upon the action of the play, can hardly be overestimated. As Irving Pichel says, in light "we have the only single agency in the theater that can work with all the other agencies binding them together-that can reveal with the dramatist, paint with the designer, and act with the actors." It is rare that light is used by nonprofessional producing groups to the extent to which it should be. This wonderful agency that we are only beginning to understand deserves the most careful study.

The Purposes of Stage Lighting

1

Stage lighting has certain definite purposes, of which the four most generally accepted are the following: 1 The following purposes are from Pichel's Modern Theaters.

1. To illuminate the stage and the actors;

2. To suggest the light effects in nature, and thus to state the hour, season, and weather;

3. To help paint the scenery by heightening the color values and by adding light and shade; and

4. To help act the play by symbolizing its meaning and reënforcing its psychology.

The Development of Stage Lighting

These purposes are stated more or less in the order in which they came to be recognized. Artificial lighting for play production is a quite recent invention. In most parts of Europe, plays were given out of doors in the light of the sun until three hundred years ago, and light effects were unnecessary and impossible. Then, hesitatingly, drama crept indoors. This change began in England during the time of Shakespeare: in his young manhood all the theaters were outdoor theaters, but by the time he retired there were two or three regular indoor theaters in London, notably the famous Blackfriars, in which he had an interest. In these indoor theaters, artificial lighting became a necessity; the stage was flooded with the light of as many candles as possible so that the audience could see the actors. For many generations this was the main purpose of the lighting. Gradually, perhaps, some attempt was made to regulate the amount of light according to the time of day in which the action was supposed to be taking

He states a fifth purpose, namely, to lend "relief to the actors and the plastic elements of the scene" (page 68), but this appears to be a part of 3, and moreover it seems unnecessary to have this purpose consciously in mind to produce good lighting.

place, by increasing or decreasing the number of candles. With the introduction of oil, then gas, and finally electricity, this could be done better and better. But it is only within our own day that we are beginning to assume an absolute control over this element. The last two purposes have been but recently recognized. We are only beginning to see what can be done on the stage with light.

The Four Purposes Illustrated

In general, the four purposes will reën force one another. They may all be illustrated by almost any example of good stage lighting. For instance, in Hampden's production of "Cyrano de Bergerac," all four purposes may be noticed in the final scene. The light illuminates the stage and old Cyrano, who sits dying in his chair in the garden; the yellow light of the late afternoon gradually fades to the blue of twilight, while a leaf drifts down occasionally from a tree to indicate that the year as well as the day is drawing to a close; the dying light, streaming in from one side of the stage, helps paint the scene, and casts increasing shadows of the tree, of the wall that crosses the back of the stage, and of gaunt old Cyrano himself; and finally, the fading light helps symbolize the action by showing the darkness the shadow of death-that creeps closer to Cyrano throughout the play, and that engulfs him at its close.

A knowledge of these purposes should be held constantly in mind by the artist who arranges the lighting for any scene.

Lighting Devices

The devices by which these purposes must be attained will probably be selected from among the following:

1. Footlights.-Footlights are lights that are fixed along the front edge of the stage, so arranged that they Old Arrangement

First circuit: white bulbs
Second circuit: red bulbs
Third circuit: blue bulbs

Newer Arrangement

Lights are still arranged in three circuits

but all bulbs are white. Color

is obtained by

use of

colored gelatines.

are shielded from the audience and that they cast light back over the stage. Usually they are wired in circuits: that is, in a three-circuit plan which is the most common one, every third light will be wired to be controlled by one switch, a second third by another switch,

and the remainder by still another. Thus, three colors may be used, say red, blue, and white, by putting bulbs of a single color in each of the circuits. A still more recent scheme consists of having the lights wired in circuits, but in using all white bulbs; color being secured by the use of colored gelatine medium, held in front of each bulb by a sliding frame. The advantage of this scheme is that it avoids the use of colored bulbs, which are often unsatisfactory, because of the difficulty of securing good colors in which to dip the bulbs, and because the heat of the lights often causes the color to peel off; moreover, it allows the use of almost any color by merely changing the gelatines in the slides. For some plays, green footlights may be useful instead of blue, or amber instead of red. The gelatine necessary to make the change will cost but a few cents, and it will be the work of a few minutes only to make the slides, while a complete set of new bulbs of an unusual color may be difficult or impossible to secure. (See pages 227-229 for further description of gelatines and slides.)

During the past few years there have been many arguments about the value of footlights. Some authorities have insisted that they are entirely unnecessary and undesirable in the modern theater. They point out, quite truly, that footlights originated in the days of candles and oil lamps, when it was impossible to throw light any distance, and therefore it was necessary to bring the lights as near to the actors as possible; with our recently developed powerful lights that can throw almost any distance, footlights are quite unnecessary, they say. And it is true that excellent lighting