Behind The Scenes: Lighting Design
In this fourth article in PA On Stage’s Behind The Scenes series, we will take a look at lighting designers, one of the many technical artists that help bring productions to life.
PA On Stage interviewed lighting designers Karen ‘K.G.’ Gasser, Tristan Stasiulis, and Matt Mitra to learn a bit more about the way lighting designers approach their craft for a theatre production – and some of the challenges they experience in doing so.
Q. What was one of your first experiences with lighting in the theatre?
KG: In 6th grade, I got to open the main curtain at the top of a production of Pinocchio. I got to let all that light and joy on stage spill out to the audience. I vividly remember the happy response of the audience when the stage was revealed. Lighting appealed to me because it “connected” my left and right brain – and later I appreciated the science and the subtlety of light.
MM: I started working in theatre in 8th grade, when I ran lights for our middle school theatre production. Moving through high school, I realized that Lighting Design was a passion and that I wanted to work in theatre for the rest of my life.
TS: I started designing lights at The Little Theatre of Mechanicsburg in 2007. I quickly moved on to other companies such as Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Harrisburg Academy of Dance, Open Stage of Harrisburg and Gamut Theatre.
Q. What is the basic responsibility of a lighting designer?
TS: The first job of a lighting designer is to focus the audience's attention. People are largely visual creatures, so their eyes are going to be drawn to the brightest spot on stage. Making sure an audience’s eye is drawn to where we want it to be drawn is the most basic thing we do.
KG: Beyond making the stage visible, a lighting designer creates a mood. We do this by talking to the director and other designers to understand the vision, the setting, and the palette of the show. We make certain emotions and conditions tangible through the intangible elements of light and shadow.
MM: In addition, we try to create different looks to enhance the story and to make sure the actors are both visible and anchored in the world of the show.
Q. What do you consider the most important part of what you do?
TS: We compliment and support the overall production and keep the audience grounded in the reality of the show they're seeing. There are all kinds of incredible effects that you can make using light, but they have to work hand-in-hand with the story. If you have frantic effects running during an intimate scene, you're going to lose your audience. Likewise, if you have flat lighting during a dance scene or a climactic moment, you'll leave the audience underwhelmed.
KG: Can you imagine the disconnect of watching a production of Dracula that was lit as brightly as a summer afternoon? We help to accurately reveal the work of the director, designers, and performers, to draw the audience into the world of the show, and support their emotional journey.
MM: It is critical for me to be a good collaborator. It's not just the lighting designer’s show: there are many people involved and my part is just a small part of a collective vision.
Q: What has been your biggest challenge?
MM: My biggest challenge as a lighting designer is picking my color palette for the show. I always have to wait until the set designer picks colors, the costume designer selects a color palette for the costumes, and more. It is my job to pull all of those items together with light.
KG: There are never enough lights or circuits. In nearly every show I have worked on, I always wanted to add more: a special focus, a practical, an effect, something that required a light I didn’t have or just one more place to plug it in. But it’s always better to think big!
TS: The hardest thing for me to do is to know when to stop designing. I approach lighting very much like painting a canvas, except it is always moving and changing color. Between sets being painted, and costumes being adjusted, it can be very hard to tell just how the full production will look in the end. I'm always making little adjustments right up until a show opens (and sometimes after!).
Q. What is the one thing you wish audience members knew about what you do?
MM: I wish people knew how much research and script analysis goes into all of the design work. Ideas can come in many forms, but the script will give me most of my ideas.
KG: Sometimes I hope that no one notices the lighting. I want the audience to be completely engrossed in the experience because that’s when all the pieces have clicked together exactly right for the production.
TS: I’d like to tell people that between the engineering of electricity and the geometry of light, there is a lot of science that goes into this art.
Matt Mitra is the Technical Director and Production Manager at Penn State Harrisburg, as well as the production designer for the campus’s theatre program.
Karen ‘KG’ Gasser has kept herself busy over the last 20+ years working at many theaters in the greater Harrisburg area. During the day, she works as a Business Analyst in the healthcare industry.
Tristan Stasiulis has been practicing lighting design since 2007. Most recently he has designed for Gamut Theatre Group, Open Stage of Harrisburg, The Playhouse at Allenberry, and The Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra.