I just sent out the lightplot for the two shows I am doing at the Barter Theatre next month. I had a fair bit of trouble with my two main programs to get that done. My drafting program was acting a little screwy and that alone was mildly disconcerting. In addition, my database program was having trouble with the import/export routines to Vectorworks.
The long and the short of it is that the whole process took a lot longer than anticipated, and I must now hope that no crucial information was lost in the translation.
It will be fun to be working in Virginia again. I am sure Abingdon will be quite a different experience than Norfolk but I really enjoy the south. Grits for breakfast. Oh I can hardly wait!
The lightplot was a curious puzzle to work out. SInce we are doing two shows in repertory the plot had to be able to work for both shows and at the same time be specific to each production. After all, Dracula and Driving Miss Daisy are about as different in style and tone as one can get.
One of the most obvious ways to transform the plot from one show to the next is by changing color. But at the same time there are more subtle textural nuances to the shows that can not be addressed simply through a color change. Different kinds of lights, angles, the use of shadow and pattern. How the different plays isolate areas or do not? What is the nature of darkness in these two plays? Is night blue or is night dark?
All these questions lead to various choices about the type placement and focus of the different lights, beyond the simple repertory fixtures. The details are where the differences are highlighted. Probably 80% of any play can lit with a standard repertory plot, perhaps allowing for changes in color. But the 20% that cannot is what makes a production truly stand out.
Working in repertory is always a bit of a compromise. Even in a situation like this where there are only two shows and I am designing both of them. Perhaps compromise is not the best term. Negotiation would be more appropriate.
A fun and exciting negotiation.
