Agnes of God

While Agnes was my ninth lighting design, it was only my second nun-themed show. No, actually, it was the first real show for which I was expected to create and implement a lighting plan from scratch. For everything I did at CHHS, I was able to use the default plot for most of my basic illumination. I added a few specials here and there (for lightning in The Secret Garden, clouds in The Importance of Being Earnest, and so forth), but I didn't need to reinvent the wheel with each show. Since the lights were already in the sky, I just needed to tell them what to do.

At Hanes Theatre, this approach makes the most sense because the stage is in one place and the audience is in a different place. In the McCoy Theatre at Rhodes, though, the space is configured differently for every show, requiring a completely new light plot for every production. I had no experience with this, and no particular desire to jump in.

However, I agreed to give it a try. I watched a couple rehearsals, then started seeing what I could do with the inventory we had.

A week later, I had a light plot finished (on the computer!) I've reproduced it below. Using that as a template, we hung and focused the lights in one weekend. Then, I started building cues.

The beginning: my plot for Agnes, or at least the most important parts of it
Detail: channels 21, 26, and 39	Title block

It was hard to know what to do with the lights. The thing about lighting is that most of the time, it needs to stand back and get out of the way of the acting. The actors are the most important thing happening onstage, and anything that detracts attention from them is bad. However, there are moments for lighting to take the lead and communicate things the actors never could. Finding and exploiting those moments, I think, is what good lighting design is all about. I'm still not very good at it. I'll either pick the wrong moment and ruin everything, or I'll let one slip past me and miss a wonderful opportunity.

But under the guidance of Miss Laura, and in consultation with Liz, our director, I was able to come up with something of which I am very proud. I have a few photographs of my lighting on an empty set, but they come with a disclaimer: they are a poor substitute for watching the play. There is no good way to relate the timing and the flow of a lighting design without showing you the play.

Basic, full-on lighting, used for most of the scenes in the play	A more dramatic look, for the Mother's first flashback
The same dramatic look, focusing on the area of interest, which is supposed to be the Mother Superior's office in a convent

The Technical Stuff

I had a pretty decent inventory available to me: about 20 Source Four 36° ellipsoidals, a healthy number of really nice Strand Fresnels, and the newest addition to our fleet: 18 automated color-changing Wybron Nexeras. I've never heard of Wybron before encountering these, but they're pretty decent. They're ellipsoidal instruments, and they can produce any color you can imagine. Since they were ellipsoidals, I matched them with S4s and used them for half of my McCandless frontlight. I gelled the S4s with Roscolux 02 (a light amber) and set the Nexeras to a very light blue close to Roscolux 60. For backlight, I used my Fresnels and (where I had to) Par 64s. I also put in some sidelight, out of my remaining S4s and a couple Altman Zooms (I hate those things). This made a total of five beams shooting into every acting area. I got a couple full-stage washes out of scoops, and the rest was lighting for the screens. There were two muslin flats on either side of the stage (see the photos if you want to know what I mean) that I lighted in conjunction with the screen to set atmosphere and mood. Usually, they stayed a muted blue, but during flashbacks or fantasies, they got weirder (purple or amber). With the screen, I managed this with conventional cyc fixtures, but I used Nexeras for the side flats.

The only special was the window, which I used to establish scenes that took place in the convent. The Doctor's office must not have any windows, because it only appears when someone is having a flashback to the convent.

I was pleased with how everything turned out. Doing a complete lighting design, including the plot, wasn't such a terrible experience that I will avoid it altogether, but I probably won't seek it out.