Getting Creative With Theatrical Lighitng Needs

I often hear from directors who won't consider producing certain plays due to "lighting." Legitimate reasons to reject a play should be that it is poorly written or doesn't fit your niche or vision. You should never snub a script based solely on its lighting suggestions. I use the word "suggestions" because that's what they are. We must start thinking of a script's technical aspects as suggestions only, not binding. Get rid of the box.

If your performance is outdoors during broad daylight, or you are indoors but only have access to a light switch on the wall, that's okay. The audience will understand. Give them credit for realizing they need to stretch their imaginations.

Here are two simple ways to create a "blackout" when you have no control over the lights:

1) At the point in the script where it says "lights fade out" or "blackout," instruct your actors to FREEZE, hold the pose for a number of beats (depending on the scene's mood), then walk in a "neutral" manner (not robotic, not as themselves, not as their characters) to their marks for the next scene. As long as they are all in sync (this would apply if there are multiple actors on stage), they should start the next scene as soon as they hit their marks.

2) At the end of each scene, instruct your actors to turn upstage and face away from the audience, again counting out the appropriate beats. Timing is crucial. Too long, and you'll lose the audience. Too quick, and you won't give the audience a chance to absorb what they've just experienced (especially if it was a "bomb dropping" scene). Feel it out.

Both of these techniques signify transitions and silently establish "moving on" to the next scene.

A nice bonus is to add music to cover the "dead air" in between scenes and set the mood. This can be as simple as using wind chimes or a rain stick. It's a cool effect, and even somehow feels like "the passing of time." Anyone who is not in the scene can do this. As the director, I've done it myself!