Light (Readings in Theatre Practice)

Light (Readings in Theatre Practice)

How has light influenced the staging of theatre throughout history? What does light contribute to performance? How does it make meaning? This collection explores the creative potential of light in the theatre. Through a wide range of extracts from historical accounts, new research and rare documents, some presented for the first time in English, Scott Palmer provides new ways of thinking about lighting as a creative performance practice. Focusing on elements such as: - The emergence of lighting design in the theatre - Equipment and techniques - The dramaturgy of light - Its impact on actor, audience and playhouse - The semiotics and phenomenology of light in performance The book reveals why light has such a profound effect on the audience's experience of a theatrical event. How has light influenced the staging of theatre throughout history? What does light contribute to performance? How does it make meaning? This collection explores the creative potential of light in the theatre. Through a wide range of extracts from historical accounts, new research and rare documents, some presented for the first time in English, Scott Palmer provides new ways of thinking about lighting as a creative performance practice. Focusing on elements such as: • the emergence of lighting design in the theatre • equipment and techniques • the dramaturgy of light • its impact on actor, audience and playhouse • the semiotics and phenomenology of light in performance the book reveals why light has such a profound effect on the audience's experience of a theatrical event. Scott Palmer is Professor of Light and Performance in the School of Performance & Cultural Industries, University of Leeds, UK. He is the co-editor with Joslin McKinney of Scenography Expanded: An Introduction to Contemporary Performance Design and with Katherine Graham and Kelli Zezulka of Contemporary Performance Lighting: Experience, Creativity and Meaning. SIMON SHEPHERD is Professor of Theatre and Deputy Principal (Academic) at the Central School of Speech and Drama, UK.