Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1980 - 27

~~~~~~~~~~_J_ar_ed_sa_'~_ma_n_Book
Lighting in the Theatre by Gosta M. Bergman; English translation by
N. Stedt. Stockholm: Almquist & Wiksellinternational, 1977. ISBN 9122000024-0, 426 pp., illus., $45.00 cloth.
Theatre Lighting in the Age of Gas by Terence Rees. London: The
Society for Theatre Research, 1978. ISBN 0-85430-0252, 238 pp.,
illus., $24.50 cloth.

In the introduction to his book the late Professor Bergman pointed
out that:
During different periods, the function of light on the stage has
needed
varied .... A common denominator is the light.
... for the spectator to see.
But light also has an artistic
function.
1) light as a symbol of something sublime or spiritual, God's light in the theatre of the Middle Ages or the 20th
century dramaturgically creative, rhythmic light that Appia
speaks of, 2) a light which, artistically, plays on the material of
the scene, creates brilliance and visual activity, aids in enhancing the feeling of restive bliss, 3) the light that conveys a lulling
suggestion of illusory reality, the atmospheric light that helps the
spectator to identify himself with the parts and settings of the
stage and 4) the alienating light, the white glaring light of the operating theatre with visible light sources, the light that prevents
the identification of the onlooker and that clarifies and makes lucid the ideological problems of the action on the stage.
Bergman's book is, therefore, not only a history of how theatre lighting was achieved-his historical survey begins with liturgical drama
in the church-but also an account of the ways in which the function
of light has changed over the centuries. Thus, the book has great
value both to theatrical scholars and practitioners as there is no treatise, in this reviewer's knowledge, that deals exclusively with the history of lighting from the time when artificial light sources were first required for visibility and, in varying degrees, as a reinforcement of the
dramatic action. Bergman has included one other feature that is worth
mention. In an introductory chapter he sets forth certain optical and
psychological data on light sources and the ways in which the human
eye and mind respond to and perceive light. In subsequent chapters
covering the historical development of lighting devices used for theatrical performance, he compares the amount of light present on the
stage and in the auditorium. The several transitions, from candles of
different types through oil lamps, Argand lamps, gas burners, lime
light, the arc lamp and electric incandescent lamp, have all produced
a period of adjustment for actors and spectators alike. The increase in
intensity-as new light sources were developed-also brought about
radical changes in the construction and painting of the scenery, the
fabrics used for costumes and the actor's makeup.
Bergman begins his historical survey with liturgical plays staged in
the church. He notes that the "Mass itself" was filled with a light symbolism "most tangibly expressed in the ... Tenebrae ceremony in
Easter week." Candles used to illuminate the service were extinguished one after another denoting the Saviour's death. Masses sung
at Christmas also used light symbolically to represent the Star of
Bethlehem.
From these simple beginnings, the illuminations used for performance began to assume an ever-increasing importance. As the spectacular productions of Renaissance artists, daVinci, Brunelleschi, and
Buontalenti, blended religious mysteries with elaborate changeable
scenery, lighting for each segment of the play or intermezzi grew
more complex. As Bergman notes, by the end of the 16th century, celestial visions were seen, "in deluxe wrapping and with more complicated machinery."
Having established his thesis, the author follows with very thorough
descriptions of the modes of lighting developed for the Renaissance,
Baroque, Neo-Classic, and Romantic periods. Space does not permit
extensive coverage of the changes in each but several are of interest
as they indicate the thinking behind (he ways in which light was used
in the theatre.
In the Renaissance, for example, light no longer served, .. as a symbol of the all-pervading clarity of God but of the enhanced sense of life
of the Renaissance itself." During the development of the perspective
settings in the 16th century, scenic artists also realized that their work
was seen to its best advantage under artificial light. Performances in

USITT /Summer, 1980

Reviews

daylight would have cost more than those in evening as the scenery
would have required "adorning devices. ,. The latter were more expensive than the candles required for an evening performance. Bergman states that, "a prerequisite ... for the Renaissance stage must
... have been the auditorium and its character of a festival hall blazing with light." One can imagine, without too much eifort, the settings
of Serlio with light of varying intensity and color shining through the
many windows and doorways of the houses.
One other development of the late Renaissance is worth mentioning as it is a problem that occupied producers until the early part
of our own century. This is the matter of the darkened auditorium. In
the 1560's di Somi, a prominent humanist attached to the court of
Mantua, noted in his Dialogues that a darkened auditorium-house
lighting at the rear of the house only--enabled the audience to see
the stage and the actors on it more distinctly than when they were surrounded by peripheral light. Social and theatrical interests did not resolve this question for centuries but one more of the foundation
stones of modern theatre lighting was set in place.
Bergman's coverage of scenic development and lighting practice in
the Baroque theatre, Venetian opera, and the seventeenth and eighteenth-/century French theatre is thorough and in many respects very
revealing. One might complain that his discussion of scena per angolo
is more of a discourse on the creation of a new scenic approach than
an explication of how such settings were lit. However, he notes that
very little material is to be found describing the lighting of the settings
by the Bibiena family, Galliari, Juvara and others. He does point out
that the lighting methods and approach used for eighteenth-century
French opera differed from that used for Italian opera. The Italians
used light in a more active fashion as their work provided a broader
scope for multiple settings and effects whereas the French opera required a "restricted number of sets." The Italians were, at this time,
also producing more work for a darkened house. In 1738, Servandoni
produced a spectacle d'optique in Paris. For this extravangaza, presented in the Salle des Machine, he hoisted the chandeliers into the
ceiling in order to focus the audience's attention more precisely on his
,. spectacle."
Bergman's chapter on the dramatic theatre in France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries provides an excellent description of
lighting methods and the numbers of candles and lamps needed for a
varied number of productions. One is tempted to wonder why every
theatre manager of this time did not operate his own candle manufactory.
Because of changes in the architecture and interior shape of the
Comedie Francaise in 1759-60 the lighting function was modified
once again. It could no longer remain a symmetrical and static form of
illumination. The new spatial arrangements, methods of production,
and new forms of drama were to require a more "atmospheric" light;
one that produced both "light and shadow in the stage picture." As
these changes in production evolved over a period of sixty years, they
culminated in what we now refer to as the Romantic theatre. Bergman
covers this development in exemplary fashion. His study describes
the work of Lavoisier in new devices and more suitable positioning;
the work of Cochin, Noverre, and Patte advocating elimination of the
footlights and new scenic techniques. By the nineteenth century,
some of these reforms had been accomplished and were aided by the
invention of two elements that raised theatre lighting to a more precise
craft. The first was the Argand lamp and the second was the introduction, in the early years of the nineteenth century, of gas as a
fuel for the new lamp.
It is at this point in the past that Terence Rees' book picks up the
history of stage lighting. It is a very welcome companion to Bergman's
volume as it provides a precise description of nineteenth/century
lighting practice in the English and, to a lesser extent, the American
theatre. Bergman confined his history largely to the Continental
theatre except for Henry Irving and David Belasco whose pioneering
work is covered near the end of the book. I shall return to discussion
of Rees' treatise shortly but several additional remarks about Bergman's work are in order.
The second half of Professor Bergman's book covers the history of
lighting in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He devotes six
chapters to technological advances-the introduction of gas, the introduction of the lime light and the electric arc lamp, the introduction
of electric lighting as a replacement for gas, and lighting the auditorium-before shifting his emphasis in the final chapters through an

Theatre Design & Technology

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1980