Performance Studies

Stage Lighting

This general lighting used on a stage. It provides a diffuse, shadow-less wash of colour over the entire stage.

General Illumination

1580 – Candles were used to light theatres in Italy and then around Europe. They were put on chandeliers over the stage, the house, the front of the stage (foot light) and in between side wings.

1780 – A Swiss Chemist, Aime Argand develops a lamp which burns oil to keep it alight. The oil lamp soon replaces candles.

1816 – The world’s first gas stage-lighting system is installed at Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia (USA).

1879 – Thomas Edison creates the first electrical lamp. Most modern theatres have now switched to this much safer option.

The development of light on stage

A sharp and highly controlled shaft of light. These shafts are used to highlight a small area of the stage, a principle actor, or create the illusion of sun/moon light.

Specific Illumination

Lime Light (1816)

Calcium Arc Lamp (1807)

Spotlight (1904)

Specific Illumination