I recently had the opportunity to see my brother's final college performance in theater. Watching him grow as an actor and as my brother, this performance was rather emotional for my family, myself and him, of course. I tried walking into this show as a normal theater goer. Not wanting to analyze and look at lighting and themes, but instead be in the moment of the show itself.
This is a lot more difficult than you'd think it'd be. It's like a car enthusiast going out on a test drive, of course they are going to analyze the car. It's like a sports analyst going to a regular baseball game, you can't turn off that focus and fully relax, because you will constantly being analyzing. I still tried, though. I walked in to the theater, looking at the scenery and the people there, but within 30 seconds I had my phone out, already taking pictures of their lighting systems and scenery.
Although I could break down each lighting piece and light fixture used, I am going to focus on some of the bigger picture items and how lighting may have been used uniquely. One interesting piece of lighting/set design was how open everything was. Walking in, you could see the sides of their unique "Stage" filled with storage. Behind the bleachers we sat in for the show, it was cluttered with storage, but this was by design. After speaking with one of the directors, they told me the lighting designer uses the clutter to his advantage, to provide depth to his lighting, something that is not focused on at the middle school and high school.
A small detail I noticed: They used a flash of white light to symbolize a gunshot, which I had previously mentioned in my March SDA that the white was common for this.
Another very interesting aspect of this play was the use of Masks, everyone in the production was masked throughout the show with two exceptions(For more information about these two exceptions, tune in to my Upcoming Podcast). From an outsider looking in, this may seem like a weird thing to do, why remove faces from a show? Are faces not the focal point of a performance? Usually, you'd be right to assume this, but the show itself dealt with modern issues and it was actually the director's choice to implement Masks. I am trying to save the reasons for the use of Masks to discuss in the podcast, but one note I would like to make is that it takes great talent to act in a production where you are not allowed to have any facial expressions. Sure, you can make expressions, but nobody will see them. So, it is so much more crucial to convey your emotions through body language, tone, actions, and even the lighting.
