Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1993 - 30

arre for rhe performance. When elecrrical equipmenr was
insralled rhis same man became rhe elecrrician.
Elecrriciry was an undeveloped science, and a person who
could splice a wire or hook rwo wires ro a socker and ger
rhe lamp ro lighr was looked upon as a genius-nor alone
a genius, bur one who braved dearh every rime he handled a wire .... 1This "elecrrician-gas man" ofren wound up in conrrol of rhe
lighring ploL In rhe case of New York's Merropoliran Opera, for
example, "rhe e1ecrrician [carried] rhe lighring in his mind, rhe
effecrs being derermined upon ar rhe rehearsal." l' Inirially rhen,
a sysrem capable of painring powerful srage picrures was, by and
large, ceded ro rechnicians rarher rhan crearive arrisrs-and rhe
absolure conrrol of color and brighrness on rhe srage was pur in
rhe hands of parr-rime plumbers. A second facer of rhe "gas
menraliry" was demonsrrared by rhe relucrance of some rhearrical arrisrs ro relinquish whar rhey felr ro be rhe special qualiries
of gaslighr. Throughour mosr of rhe ninereenrh cenrury rhe
warm glow of an open gas flame had been rhe srandard for rhearre lighring. Makeup, scene painring, and indeed, acring sryles
in general seemed ro be rhrearened by rhe perceived revealing
whireness of elecrrical incandescence. Ellen Terry, during her
Lyceum years wirh Henry Irving, was one of elecrriciry's
srrongesr opponenrs:
nril elecrriciry has been grearly improved and developed, ir can never be ro rhe srage whar gas was. The rhick
sofrness of gaslighr, wirh rhe lovely specks and mores in ir,
so like natumllighr, gave illusion ro many a scene which
is now revealed in all irs naked rrashiness by elecrriciry 1<)

componenrs awaired only new crearive arrisrs ro manipulare
rhem. Soon visionary managers like Henry Irving, Sreele
MacKaye, and David Belasco would rum srage lighring inro a
psychological and imaginarive rool, nor jusr a simple illuminaror. They would ser rhe srage for rhe new scenographers like
Adolphe Appia and Gordon Craig who would define and develop rhe field of modern lighring design over rhe firsr few decades
of rhe rwenrierh cenrury. Oris Skinner in a 1920 memoir
summed up rhe period of rransirion rhar was ro end wirh lighring design becoming a recognized rhearrical arr form:
The scene ro-day, lighred in chiaroscuro worrhy a
Rembrandr, would have seemed an incredible arrainmenr
in my beginnings when gas foorlighrs and borders, rogerher wirh rhe illuminarion of rhe blended calcium gas from
iron cylinders placed in rhe wings, changed scenes from
daylighr ro sunser and ro moonlighr. Bur now rhe sofr
mellow beauf)' of srage lighring has evolved so gradually
from rhose hor wiggly lirde wires of rhe firsr incandescenr
lighrs rhar ir is nor a marrer of wonder ro an audience how
rhese rhings have come abouL"
ffi
Tim Fon teaches in the Department of Drama at Queen's

University in Kingston, ON, and is a member of the Associated
Designers ofCanada.
Endnotes
\"i/. \Y,!. Da\'ies. "EleClric Ligh[ in lhe Theatre." Nores dud Queries, 8, 11 Ocwber 1895:

The cenrral concern abour elecrric rhearre lighr, however, voiced
as early as 1882, was rhar irs general diffuse brighrness lacked
arrisric effecr:
... rhe value of gradarion, rhe value of conrrasr, rhe value of
shadow, rhe value of proper grouping, rhe value of relarive
rones, of considerarion of proper relief in backgrounds, of
concenrrared lighr, wirh many orher picrorial secrers, rhe
exisrence of which, rhough amply acknowledged and
appreciared by rhe rhearrical scene-painrer, cosrumier, and
manager, seem by rhem, for whar reason we know nor, ro
be enrirely rhrown ro rhe winds. We see all glare, all glirrer; our eye is farigued ... '0

6
8

9
10

This purporred lack of "gradarion" from incandescenr lighring
resulred in several decades of experimenrarion wirh remore dimming, color mixing, and rising lamp efficiency which would
ulrimarely demonsrrare rhar an abiliry ro creare srrong gradarion
was one of rhe mosr powerful assers of elecrric lighring. By rhe
1920s, Walrer Fuersr and Samuel Hume would exrol rhe
exrraordinary new ronal conrriburions available rhrough II1candescenr lighr:
Diffused lighr, regulared by dimmers, creares rhe psychological evenr rhrough nuances; rhe nuances of clear or
obscure, as well as rhe nuances of colour. Direcr lighr produces conrrasrs, and so presenrs rhe dramaric evenr
rhrough rhe play of lighr and shadow. '1
In rhe rhearre, rhen, elecrriciry immediarely creared rhe porenrial for a grearer freedom in scenic arr. Ir could provide focus,
direcrionaliry, con[('ol of inrensiry, varief)' of color, grearer ease
in posirioning, and efforrless blackours. These basic design
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288.
"The Electric Lighling of (he Grand Opera at Paris'" El1gil1erring (London), 31, 11
Ocrober 1881: 417.
For a full disGISsioll of [he Savoy. see Terence Rees, TJulltre Lighting in the Age' of Gm
(London: The Society for Theatre Research. 1978); "The Electric Light ;II rhe
Theatre," The Builder, 42. (:- January 1882); and -The LiglHing of dlC Savoy Theatre,"
Engin,aing. (3 ~ larch 1882), reprimed in Tabs, 20. no. 2 (September 1962).
"The Bijou'" Suuday Hmrld (BoslOn), 10 December 1882: 9. "The Edison Light."
Boston Hfrtlld, 17 December 1882, in Harvard Thearre Collection. and "Electric Lights
ar the Bijou," Boston Dili~)' Globe, 17 December 1882: 7, are rhe basis ofrhe Bijou
Theatre information .
From 3n unauribured article of 4 December 1882 in rhe Harvard Theatre Collection.
The HTC holdings on the Bijou run to six boxes. including programs, ledgers, scrapbooks. and ticket stubs.
·'j\lusicall\lauers.'· unauributed article in scrapbook, HTC.
"A Night of Trials:' unartriburcd article b~' female chorus member. in clipping file,
HTC.
The photographs are claimed to be rhe first rhe:.Hrical pictures taken by electric ligh(
and appear in Historical Rl'l'ieul ofthe Boston BUou Thl'lltre (Boston: Edward O. Skelton.
1884).
Frank Dyer and Thomas l\ brtin. Edison, His Lift tlnd !nl'ewiom, I (New York: Harper
& Bros. Publishers, 1910) ""0.
"The EleCiric Lighr ar Haverly's" ChicilgO EIJl'ning journal, 7 April 1883: 6, and
"Haverly's" Chic(lgO !mrr-Ocetln, 10 April 1883: 4. are mosr useful.
Rees 181-182.
George Oddl. A"J1llds ofrl){' lVt'U }ork Sftlge. xii (New York: Columbia University Press,
19 9) 128.
The repons occur in Theodore Fuchs. Stilge Lighting (New York: Benjamin Blom,
1929) .. -, "Theotre Lights of the Past'" Edison MonliJ1.,. 9 (Februan' 191-) 3 .. 0:
TIJ('tllre Lighting: Rut ilnd PreS(m. \'\'ard Leonard Elecrric Company caralogue (i\tOlllH
Vernon. NY, 1923) 23. and Herbert Kliegl. "Stage Lighting -A Surve~' Since 1906:'
!!!umin(uing Enginfrring. 51 (January 1956): I IJ,
Edwin Sachs. l\fodenJ Oprril Howes llnd ThC',ures, .J (London: B. T. Barsford. 1898) 8-·
128.151-160.
Jod E, Rubin, "Thl.' Tl.'chnical Development of Stage Lighring App.lf,Hus in rhe Cniled
Stares. 1900-1950," disst:fr.uion (P.llo Alto, CA: SLlI1ford University. 1960) ~3~2-.
H. Bissing, "Thl.' Swirchboard for Srage LigIHing:' E!rorir.d \\"'orld, 5\, 19 Fl.'bruary
1898: 2-16.
H,lrrnl.lnn, Thetltrr Lighting (i\:ew York: DBS Publishers, 1<)50: Rpt. Nt-'w York: D.
Appleton .1I1d Co.. 19-0) -·9.
"Behind rhe Scenes of an Opcr.l House:' in l\{{lgic: Sltlge filtH/om. Spt'ci,rI EJl~as. tlnd
Trick Plrorogr"plr)'. ed. Albert Hopkins (~ew York: ,\Iunn & Co.. 1898) 263.
Ellen Terry. The Story of,lf) LiF (London: Hutchinson & Co.. 1908) 1-5.
"The ElecIric Light .H rhe The,Hrc.·:' Builda, 10.
Fut.'rsr and Hume, TWr'ntinh C"UfUr)' Sttlge D","Ortllioll. I (London: Alfred A. f-..:nopf.
I'J28) -2.
Skinnt:f, Foorlighrs llud Sporlights (i':t-'w York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1925) 5) 1-3)2.
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1993