Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2011 - 11

subtext
by beeb salzer

my
values

A recent production I saw pitted the director's concepts
against Shakespeare. Shakespeare lost. In a bad imitation of
Cirque du Soleil, acrobats, people, and scenery flying and
twisting, and with music underscoring, language didn't have a
chance. There were so many LED lights and so much motorized scenery that the news from the front reported several
instance of power overload. What must have gone on at production meetings was, "Why not do this...why not do that."
Thus unedited, I guess no one said, "Just because we can, why
do any of this?"
I had to contrast the excesses of this production with a
book I was reading at the time, Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010), by Jane Brox.
It starts and ends with the Lascaux caves where the paintings,
far from outdoor light, were done with light from the crudest
sources. Archaeologists have found limestone slabs, either
with natural cavities or hollowed out, that had been filled with
animal fat tallow. "The melted fat could be poured out without
drowning the lichen, moss, or juniper wicks." The light produced was so faint that the artist must have held the lamp which
then illuminated only a portion of the animal being drawn. And
the lamps only lasted about an hour. All of these beautiful painting were done eighteen thousand years ago. When doing the
paintings under difficult conditions, climbing down a hole and
once inside, lighting a wick for the lamp, I wonder if anyone
then questioned why do them just because it could be done? In
this case, they were done, probably, to create a mystical relationship between the animals needed for food and the early humans. (The Shakespeare production had no logical rationale.)

Like the speed and size of computers, lighting
sources have been on an increasingly speedy
development: incandescent, halogen, LED...
A time line from then to now would show a tiny dot at the
end representing the introduction of electric light scarcely over
a hundred years ago. In between would come all sorts of natural/artificial light that Brox lists, from animal fat, oily candlenuts, beeswax, and even fireflies captured and kept in cages.
From the Middle Ages on, cities had rules about keeping citizens safe when night fell. Brox paints a picture of the

dangers of being out after dark when only thieves braved the
streets. Except for midwives or priests called out for emergencies, all others were caught by authorities. Even lights
from cooking fires inside the home were to be extinguished
for fear untended fire would consume the wood and thatched
houses. "Curfew comes from the Old French covre-feu,
meaning cover fire."
Today we are told about the growing gap between rich
and poor but picture any palace such as Versailles, ablaze
with candles while peasants in a hut might have a bit of animal fat to burn for light. Of course, eventually the gap was
closed when some heads were lost. If I remember correctly,
the first scene in the 1990 film of Cyrano de Bergerac starring Gerard Depardieu, shows the theatre's candles being lit
before the performance.
When I was growing up in Cincinnati, our street was lit
by gas lamps. (That really dates me.) There is still a neighborhood there that has gas street lights and other cities like New
Orleans and Boston have kept sections lit by the soft romantic
gas lights. Years ago, my apartment in New York had electricity
but the wires were threaded through the old gas pipes.
Gas from coal was first available in the late 1700s. In
1816, Rembrandt Peale, who is famous for his portraits of
Washington and Jefferson, opened a museum in Baltimore that
amazed people because it was lit with gas. Peale by the way, was
trained by his father to paint portraits and scenery.
Between the eras of gas light and incandescent light, arc
lights were used in the theatre. I ran an arc light follow spot a
few times. The trick was to advance the carbon as it burned
so that the light didn't sputter and go out. I mostly succeeded.
Popular Mechanics in 1910 reported on a Spanish inventor
who used arc light to light the stage, not directly, but bouncing
the light off of reflective silk panels. The report says that using
a large curved fabric, reflected arc light gives the impression
of endless space. (The same issue of the magazine reports on
plans for airplanes to carry passengers.)
Like the speed and size of computers, lighting sources
have been on an increasingly speedy development: incandescent, halogen, LED. And each of these went through its own
journey from dim to bright light. What will be the next miracle?
And what after that?
Just a few months ago, I saw a report of a company,
WiTricity, about to market wireless power to run TVs, lights,
and more. Nikola Tesla would be amused that finally something
he championed so many years ago was about the find a practical use. (Not knowing the science, I wonder what happens in a
Tesla field to the metal fillings in my teeth.)
Whatever the new inventions, some directors will jump at
the chance to use them, regardless of how they may overpower
a production. Shakespeare watch out. v

w i n t e r 2011

theatre design

& technology

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2011