Campion Decent’s UNHOLY GHOSTS at the Stables Theatre. Lighting designer Martin Kinnane
I saw it four times: The first light cue made me cry.
The operation on this show was a treat. Cue 1: the fade from pre-show to the first state was perfectly timed. Not rushed, not too slow to be noticed, it just gently focused the attention of the audience onto the stage and was in perfect rhythm to the descending hush. All invisible to an average theatre goer. The invisibility was the theme of the changes throughout the performance with the exception of the UV/J Winter Blue snap for the storm. The lighting simply supported the performances with little area work and no fussy colour changes.
The entry state was white party lights, reminiscent of a makeup mirror in the grid and a blue bounce from the shiny black, notoriously ill shaped triangular wall. This bounce ran from blue to violet but never more than subtly. Back lighting on the wardrobe ran from steel to blue with the instrument right in the triangular corner, this was given extra depth by the judicious use of haze. Back lighting in the acting area was provided by low floods with silk gel.
The cinema chair space and the main acting space were in perfect harmony with the same instruments and colour repeated. O/W fresnels for the centre with some terrific barndooring … no spill anywhere. Supplemented with peach profiles.
The final Heaven state echoed the opening with multi-coloured party lights and the understated blues not to mention the bubble machine.
Joanna Murray-Smith’s SWITZERLAND at the Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House. Designer Nick Schlieper. Subtle and focused.
Just sublime. The initial state emphasises the cold steels of morning as the female character descends the spiral stairs to set on one of the lower rungs. The throw is from the proscenium alcove on OP but also from the book lined hallway. Reflecting a similar loneliness the final state of Act 1 has the female character sitting in the firelight staring to the flames in a pool of warmth with the dark and grey closing in.
It’s ambers and steels all the way. From both proscenium alcoves. Roscoe brand as the chinograph gel numbers are quite clear on the steels. Tut tut! There are small box Fresnels all along the DS bar which is just squeezed in before the ceiling slats begin. There are also instruments behind the ceiling beams. On the audience perches are pars in steel and amber and on the audience bars, profiles the same.
The blending is uniform but not used that way. Rather dips and hot spots are used to emphasise mood as are warms and cools. There must be 60 changes of state in this show but so well programmed and so slow as to be invisible. It couldn’t be described as area lighting but more as focus intensity. I could see the audience heads moving toward the light. At one stage the male and female characters were on either side of the wide stage and the audience was moved into the direction by the state changes.
The proscenium pars were also used to create shadows on the side walls. I was obsessed with working out how the height and darkness of the shadow was matching the character’s status at that moment. Not once did one character throw shadow on the other’s face … see it can be done! You just need rehearsal time and a responsive cast.
There are 3 practical lamps. One on the desk Prompt, another shining up on the portrait (this has real movement and resonance related to the text of the piece) and the last one near the stereo.
Sue Smith’s KRYPTONITE at Wharf 1, Sydney Theatre Company. Sound Designer Nicholas Rayment. The Olympics scene was worth the price of admission.
Traditional fixtures for the most part. Ambers and a really pale steel for the basis of the rig in Act 1. The ambers look wonderful on the variegated brown/cream screens and the steels add a real hardness to the back wall. Having the back wall higher than the screens really makes the lighting flexible and there are wonderfully moderated scenes where the screen and wall are competing for mood … just as the audience is.
The raised floor has lighting under it. Squares of bamboo stripes which place the character in a time and place and the squares are chased at one stage to create an almost tangible chaos. The best use was when the squares appeared randomly and then melted away during the flying scene … such a strong sense of movement and momentum here.
There is a lot of down lighting used really effectively in this show. In contrast to the curve of the beam, much of the area lighting is square and this is especially true of the down box floods which have been further delineated by the use of black wrap which extends them by about 30cm. The resultant down square is just the right size. And I have to say the cast can pick a light beautifully. There are lots of very gently operated cues which follow the action within scenes and cast movement.
The Fresnels are fitted with color scrollers but colour is not overused. The colour palate is really the ambers and steels until the red arrives in Act 2. My favourite colour from Act 1 is an extraordinarily delicate pastel bluey green from far USL. It looked like the most delicate piece of antique porcelain glaze. I just loved it!
The red that would be expected in a show with Asian themes arrives in saturation in Act 2. There are reds under the floor, fresnels above and tophatted floor lanterns all around the up stage right and down stage left. The red starts slowly and builds up until we feel the pain and the culture and the blood that the character is feeling.
Another brilliant effect is the representation of the Olympics Opening Ceremony. Supported by SFX this scene really depends on the lighting. It is created by flashing LEDs on the curved beam and around the grid in front of the walkway, so only over the stage area. This white LED flash and chase and some general colour flashes. There is also some quick strobe hits at the same time. The strobe is also used represent the media pack’s flash photography.
There is a window gobo for one of the intimate scenes and a brilliant state for the scene when the character is describing a lotus pond in loving detail while surrounded by a slightly disfocused O/W dot gobo. There are about 40 dots with that blue edge of disfocus and the character in a pool of white in the centre. Just glorious. This pool of soft edge surrounded by a colour is also used well in the sexual scene where the characters are interacting in white surrounded by ambers with steels on the back wall.
This article was first published on Judith’s blog- http://sydneylivetheatretechnicalnotes.blogspot.com.au