Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2001 - 57

play a role in finding balance. The architects can sometimes be the
biggest problem of all. They want to create a wonderful theatre but
they approach the design from a fundamentally different standpoint.
Most architects care more about what it looks like. That's only part
of the challenge. Its got to work! Work in the technical and aesthetic sense and very few architects understand the demands of
developing a performance space.
BW: What are some tips that you may have to keep the passion alive in your work?
IF: Passion is a critical ingredient for me. How do you keep it alive?
Maybe you keep it alive by never giving in or never giving up, by
challenging yourself, by making whatever you're doing an experience in the light of which it is something you haven't done before.

By keeping it alive and fresh you keep the passion rejuvenated. If
you take an, "Oh, I did that before," attitude. I think that the passion dies a little bit because you're not stirring anything new.
You're not asking yourself to go one step beyond. At this stage in
my career when everyone thinks that I've done everything, I can
claim that I haven't. Maybe when I have done everything, then is it
time to pack it in? I hope that never happens!
RP: I constantly try to scare myself by taking on stuff that I didn't think
that I could do. Or I take on too much. Ignorance is bliss-when
you're making it up and you're not quite sure if you're going to be
right. That's the way our lives go. We try new things to cover the
challenges that come before us.
KB: I see a lot of bitter people who may have lost the passion and who
have become bitter for whatever reason. Sometimes it has nothing
to do with what we do. I've always said that if this
were to happen to me that somebody should just
shoot me or kick me so I can go off and figure out
why I became that way. It's hard because its often
something you can't see in yourself. Are you happy
in complacency? A lot of people get comfortable in
a given situation, doing whatever they do every day.
I don't want to know what I'm doing tomorrow-
which is why I freelance. I have a lot of work right
now, but, what am I going to do tomorrow? I don't
have a full plate of jobs for a year from now. I don't
know what I'll be lighting two years from now.
People may never hire me again. If that's the case,
what am I going to do? Is my health insurance going to be paid? All those real life issues keep you on
your toes, finding a way to make yourself fresh and
interesting. Never fall back on those, "Hey, I've
done that before" attitudes. I have often said to
myself, "Why should anyone hire me?" It's because
I can do this. I may not know how I'll do it...but
I'll do it.
BW: What do each of you do besides lighting, and how does it contribute to your
lighting careers?
IF: I believe in the concept that a good lighting
designer must be aware of everybody and everything-every discipline that you can get your hands
on. The more you know about what's around you,
other than your own little lighting world, the better
lighting designer you will be. I get quite involved in
the entire creative concept. Creative concepts for
not just the show and how it looks-I get involved
from the point of view of how the creative concept
is going to develop from the script. I find that this
is true in not only traditional drama but also in
television and industrial productions. I find this
process fascinating.
RP: I believe that you can get too obsessed by lighting, and that a lot of lighting people can get even
more obsessed by technology. This is actually close
to being irrelevant to the real essence of what we
are trying to do as theatre artists. This is not brain

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