the evolution of stage lighting

THE EVOLUTION OF STAGE LIGHTINGAuthor(s): L. G. ApplebeeSource: Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Vol. 94, No. 4723 (AUGUST 2nd, 1946), pp. 550-563Published by: Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and CommerceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41362440 .

Accessed: 28/06/2014 15:52

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce is collaborating with JSTOR todigitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of the Royal Society of Arts.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 92.63.102.36 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 15:52:03 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=thersa

http://www.jstor.org/stable/41362440?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


550 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS Aug. 2, 1 946

enamel able to stand up to that kind of treatment. The same applies to vessels which are to contain food ; they must resist food acids like lemon juice and so on.

The remaining type of finish is the ordinary application of paint, lacquer or japan, the details of which will be too familiar to necessitate my going into them. All those materials can be applied to cast iron and I believe that new treatments by plastic- based materials are on the way.

The Chairman : I have much pleasure in moving a very hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Pearce for his very interesting lecture. I am quite sure you will all go away from this lecture realising how very much our day-to- day existence depends on the fact that there is such a material as cast iron.

After the vote of thanks, which was carried with acclamation, the meeting terminated.

NINETEENTH ORDINARY MEETING Monday, April 15TH, 1946

Mr. Laurence Irving, r.d.i., in the Chair The Chairman : I have very great pleasure

in introducing Mr. Applebee, who is going to give an address on the past history and present activity of stage lighting and, I hope, its future developments. He is a director of the well-known Strand Electrical Company who have been deeply implicated in stage lighting for many years. I have always found them to be true friends of the artist in that they subordinate their activities to the requirements of artists and designers.

In the course of this lecture you may possibly get the impression that stage lighting is an exact science. I should like to disillusion you on that point. The lighting rehearsal is the signal for chaos to break out throughout the theatre. Lighting is one of the few media in which any unqualified person can have great fun ; everybody in the theatre troops into the stalls and is prepared to offer advice and suggestions. This goes on until about 4 in the morning, and then, when everyone is exhausted, someone like Mr. Applebee takes things over and produces a result.

There is also this question of what may be called high-brow lighting as opposed to commercial lighting. If you go to little art theatres you often see the most beautiful and

imaginative lighting effects, which, by com- parison, when you come to London, may cause you to be disappointed in what you see. The point is that the lighting of a small art theatre and the lighting of a commercial theatre are two entirely different things. Since the auditorium of the small art theatre is small, it is possible to go in for half-lighting and atmospheric effects while the actors still remain visible to almost everybody in the audience. Moreover, the audience in a small art theatre is a specialised one which under- stands that kind of thing and is prepared to see less of the actors and a little more imagination in the production. That is not so, however, in the commercial theatre. In London there are theatres with large auditoria and high proscenium arches where everyone in the audience has paid to see the actors. Although people criticise the unimaginative lighting in the average commercial theatre, I think that the managements are justified in demanding that their stages should be fully lit. The actors in this case are of paramount importance and must be seen and heard. Therefore the problems of lighting in the two kinds of theatre are quite different and must be judged on their own merits. I think that the lighting experts and the designers of lighting effects are equally valuable in both these branches of the theatre.

The following paper was then read : -

THE EVOLUTION OF STAGE LIGHTING

By L. G. Applebee, f.i.e.s.

The Sun Allardyce Nichol tells us that the Greek

theatre at Athens is the ancestor of all the theatres of modern Europe, and that Greece was not only the first European country to practise the art of the drama, but that the forms and conventions of the classic play- houses were carried down through the theatres of the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages and Renaissance Italy, and thence over to this country through the Elizabethan and Res- toration periods to modern times. He also tells us that the first indication of lighting was in the fifth century b.c., in the dramas of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, the play being performed either before sunset or after dawn according to the time-of-day reference in the dialogue, the sun being the lighting unit to assist the atmosphere of the play, just as the only scenery was the natural countryside.



Aug. 2, 1946 THE EVOLUTION OF STAGE LIGHTING 55 1

It was not until 465 b.c. that any backing was erected behind the actors, and about this period the first equivalent of the revolving stage was erected. It was known as 7Г€/накто$, and seems to have been a triangular prism, on each side of which was painted a scene or symbol ; by revolving this prism a change of scene was suggested. One of these prisms was known as a lightning machine, flashes being painted on the three sides, and the prism quickly revolved.

At the same time a " semi-circle " was introduced, which gave a view of a far distant landscape, a description which suggests the first cyclorama.

Oil It is not until the Renaissance period, in the

fifteenth century, that any further data are . found on lighting. Thunder and lightning were produced by so-called machines, and squibs and fireworks were used to give local colour to devils. Leone Hebroe de* Sommi, a theatre writer of the time, counselled that the placing of oil lamps on scene roof-tops and towers in comedy would give gaiety to the scene, and that they should be diminished when an unhappy situation occurred.

Nicola Sabbatine, who published his treatise on Scenes and Machines in 1692, suggested a parapet towards the front of the stage with lights behind. These were called " floatlights," as they consisted of wicks floating in a trough of animal or vegetable oil, and still to-day footlights are often referred to as " floats."

Sebastiano Serlios in 155 1 obtained coloured light by the use of bottles filled with red and blue liquid placed in front of the wicks.

Candles As for the Elizabethan theatres, Dyce, in

his Life of Shakespeare , mentions that the Globe at Southwark had "two ample branches, of a form similar to those now hung in churches , to give light to the stage."

J. B. Fagan, in his lecture before the Illuminating Engineering Society in 19 19, told us that he could find no further development of stage lighting until 1674, when Sir Christopher Wren built the second Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and Inigo Jones contrived the stage mechanism. The stage was lighted with hanging coronas, each with about thirty candles.

Nichols tells us that in Daniel's play The Queen's Wake , Inigo Jones made changes of

scene by dazzling the eyes of the spectators with lights. I presume this was the first of what we in the theatre to-day call " blinders."

David Garrick introduced footlights in the second Drury Lane in 1755, together with lights up each proscenium, although he retained the coronas, which appeared in view of the audience both for interior and exterior scenes. These were not concealed behind the skyborders until Sheridan managed Drury Lane in J 784.

Tallow candles had at this period replaced the floating oil wicks, and it was a frequent occurrence for a " snuff " boy to appear in the middle of some scene and attend a smoking candle. There is preserved at the King's Palace at Drottingholm, near Stockholm, a complete theatre built in 1766 in which examples of the candle lighting can still be seen. The theatre is a National Museum, and is open to view by the public.

Oil Returns Towards the end of the eighteenth century

the development of the Argand burner for oil, with its glass chimney, superseded candles. The chimneys provided the first step to the use of colour, as they could be stained. At the first Haymarket Theatre, by means of levers the coloured glasses were made to sink over the light sources and produce moonlight.

Gas In 1803 the original Madame Tussaud

vacated the Lyceum (then known as The English Opera House) in order that Mr. Winser might experiment with lighting the place with gas - this just twenty-two years after its invention by the Scotsman, Murdoch. At last the light source was harnessed and dimming made possible, with variation in intensity and the blending of colour to obtain realistic effects. To the efforts of Sir Henry Irving at the Lyceum, and of Sir Augustus Harris at Drury Lane, must be given much of the credit for a big step forward in stage lighting. The control of the intensity of the light was by means of valves. The gas plate, as the regulator was termed, was the fore- runner of our dimmer regulator. Irving obtained his colour effects by fitting revolving silks round each burner. Needless to say, the temperature of the stage was nearly that of a Turkish bath.

Limelight Fifteen years after Murdoch invented gas,

Henry Drummond introduced limelight, but




it was not used in the theatre until i860. It was produced by burning a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen and causing the flame to impinge on a block of lime which became luminescent.

The introduction of a lens in front of the piece of lime provided the first spotlight. Some may be surprised to know that the gas mantle (1890) owes its inception to limelight. It made its entrance too late, however, for the stage, as electric lamps had already replaced gas. It is difficult to say which

arc at the Royal Society in 1808, a date long before electric generators had been developed. Dubosq, in 1846, used the arc to represent the rising sun at the Paris Opera, and produced a rainbow by passing the light through a prism, a method still employed up to 1939 by the Germans. JablochkofFs candle, a form of electric arc, was used in 1879 to light the Bellacour Theatre at Lyons.

The Electric Lamp Swan in England, and Edison in America,

(. Strand, Electric) Fig. i. - Cyclorama at Shakespeare Memorial Theatre , Stratford-on-Avon

of these two light sources was the more important, but it is safe to say that both revolutionised the stage, and made the portrayal of realism a possibility. In the early days the two " lime " gases were contained in rubber bags on which the operator used to sit to add to the pressure. The bursting of one such bag at Drury Lane caused the authorities to insist on iron cylinders. Lime- light was still in use at Drury Lane for some effects as late as 1935.

The Electric Arc Sir Humphrey Davy exhibited his electric

produced their respective incandescent lamps in 1879, and in 1 88 1 the Paris Opera House was converted to this type of illuminant. The first English theatre to instai the system was the Savoy in 188 1. So sceptical were the sponsors that they equipped the house for gas as well. The fact that by resistance the intensity could be raised and lowered, whilst the lamps could be lacquered any desired colour, marked a great step forward, and the absence of the heat of the gas burners was a great relief to the actors. The Lyceum was the last London theatre to adopt electric -light (1902), this tardiness being mainly due



Aug. 2, 1946 THE EVOLUTION OF STAGE LIGHTING 553

to the late Ellen Terry, who maintained that the electric light was too cold and harsh.

The arc spotlight and floodlight soon commenced to replace limelight, although they are still referred to as " limes.' * The enormous use of these spots can be realised when I mention that Sir Herbert Tree used as many as forty in one scene. As each required an attendant, the labour cost can be imagined.

In 1907 the metal filament lamp made its appearance and the same objection was expressed by Ellen Terry and the producers that it was cold and harsh.

The principle of lighting in this country remained the same until 1918. The Continent, however, had moved to a new technique, mainly owing to the scenic designs of Ellen Terry's son, Gordon Craig, R D.I. His designs were regarded here as eccentric. However, his production of Hamlet at the Moscow Art Theatre, and his exhibition of scene designs, impracticable ãs they appeared, stimulated stage reform all over Europe, and such producers as Fortuny Appia, Rheinhart and others began to adopt many of the principles advocated by Craig.

The Cyclorama In 1902, Mariano Fortuny at the Scala

Opera House made the first attempt to produce coloured sky effects by the use of light only. His cyclorama consisted of a curved double dome of silk which was carried on a collapsible frame much like the hood of a perambulator. When open it was the shape of a quarter orange, the silk being kept free from wrinkles by being made double and the space in between exhausted of air, thus allow- ing the atmospheric pressure to remove all creases.

The lighting units, which consisted of automatically fed arc lanterns, projected their white light on to coloured silks which reflected their colours on to the surface of the cyclorama. The effect was sensational. The illusion was perfect ; the spectator was looking out into infinite space. The only theatre in this country to instai Fortuny 's system was the Birmingham Repertory. It is no longer used. On the Continent it created a new method of scene construction, and the State Opera Houses commenced to use cycloramas although their lighting systems varied.

The Charlottenburg Opera House, built in 1 912, has a similar shaped cyclorama to that of Fortuny, but, being made of plaster and suspended from the fly rails, it can be moved

up and down stage. In the Schauspielhaus at Dresden, completed in 19 16, the cyclorama commenced to go to a greater height, and thus another of Craig's dreams became a reality. The lighting designed by Linnebach retained the arc lanterns with coloured glass screens operated by means of wire ropes from the switchboard. Optical effects such as moving snow, clouds, flames, etc., made their appearance in 1895, and this type of realism was used extensively on the cycloramas.

This was the position of the English and Continental theatres in 1918. The gasfilled electric lamp made its appearance in the theatre about 19 19, and, owing to its great heat, could not be lacquered. This led to the modern type of magazine batten with each lamp in its compartment, with efficient reflectors, the colour being obtained by coloured gelatines.

The Incandescent Spotlight In America in 19 14 the projector electric

lamp made its appearance, although it did not arrive in this country until 1918. This lamp, in lanterns with lenses, replaced the hand-fed arc spots used by Tree and others. The ability tó dispense with an operator to feed the carbons together was a big advantage, whilst by means of dimmers the intensity of the light could be varied, and the lanterns could be placed in positions which had been impossible before, because they were inaccessible to the operators. This lamp marked one of the biggest steps forward in stage lighting. Its use is primarily to light small portions of the stage or particular characters to a higher intensity than the rest of the scene, and thus made possible a stereoscopic or three- dimensional effect.

These lamps are used in various positions. No. i batten became a series of " spots," a number are erected up each side of the proscenium arch, whilst others with remotely controlled colour screens are fitted to the fronts of the auditorium circles. Their first use was by Earnshaw in Froham's production of Peter Pan.

In Germany, just after the 1914-1918 war, Hasait, an Austrian, and Schwabe, a Dutch- man, produced the portable cyclorama with special lighting units. Briefly, this form of cyclorama consisted of a circular canvas screen. The cloth was hung by a special process which, to a large extent, prevented creases and folds. It could be rolled up on its track on either the Prompt or O.P. corner of the stage. It was illuminated by a bank of




tubular floodlamps, using a special lamp with a straight filament, and curved coloured glasses, which gave a spread of 180 degrees of light. Seven colours were used, four hues of blue, one red, one green and one amber, and by blending these any coloured sky could be obtained.

Basil Dean introduced this method into this country, but it gradually lost favour and although there are cycloramas of this type at Covent Garden, the University Dramatic

using these three colours in glass, and about this time Volk - an Englishman - produced a model cyclorama using as his colour media ordinary theatrical gelatines. His attempts were exceedingly fine, and whilst Ridge had been using more or less pure spectrum colours, Volk used ordinary theatrical gelatines, red and amber on one lighting unit, bluey-green on another and deep red on the third. Much of his success is due to the fact that in his colour media, whatever the dominant

Fig. 2. - Typical Continental projected scenery

Club, Cambridge, and the Coliseum, the lighting is of a different nature. The English method in use is known as the additive method of colour blending. It owes its inception to Thomas Young, who, in 1803, stated that by taking three of the principal colours of the spectrum, viz., red, blue and green, and varying the intensity of light behind each, any hue of colour could be obtained. Young's theory does not appear to have been exploited until 191 3, when Maurice R. Pevier began to use it in America.

In 1928, Harold Ridge, at the Festival Theatre, Cambridge, started to experiment in

colour, there is a little of all the colours of the spectrum. Nowadays a deep blue, a green, and an orange are used, although for certain effects, particularly at the bottom of the cyclorama, red is substituted for orange.

So the additive three-colour system came to stay, and Covent Garden, the Westminster Theatre and the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon, installed the method. Countless specialised theatres, both large and small, have also adopted the system . The cycloramas were not, however, of the Continental type (except at Covent Garden, although this was entirely of English manu-




facture). At first, many people thought the illusion of looking out into space was partly due to the curve and shape of the cyclorama. This, of course, is not so, as one can get equally good results by just cementing the back wall of the stage, as is done at Toynbee Hall, the Garrick Playhouse of the Altrincham Players, or the Bradford Civic Theatre. That at Stratford-on-Avon is only curved at the ends and top. It is somewhat like the Char- lottenburg model in that it can be removed

system known as G.K.P. has been used at the Burg Theatre, Vienna, and at the Odeon, Paris. The slides are made by mechanical means and then e coloured by an artist. A large-scale model is first made, and then photographed with the camera in the position that the projector will eventually occupy ; thus all distortion due to the somewhat awkward position of the lantern is overcome. The resultant photograph is finally enlarged to the size required for use in the optical lantern,

Fig. 3. - A typical manually -operated Grand Master Control stage switchboard

up and down stage. It is of plaster and weighs 22 tons and yet can be moved easily by one man. It has a variable constellation of thirty stars. To the Repertory Theatre, the School and the Civic Playhouse its use is invaluable, as it simplifies the construction of scenery.

Projected Effects For many years projected effects such as

clouds, sandstorms, sea-waves, flames, etc., have been used in the theatre, and on the Continent the huge cycloramashave been used for the projection of the actual scenery. The

which is fitted with an optical system which gives an angle of about 80 degress. It is usual to fit the apparatus on a bridge over the proscenium arch. Strobach at Cologne has used a similar German system.

The use of projected scenery in this country is limited. One outstanding example was at the Westminster Theatre in which an angeťs wings covered the whole width and height of the cyclorama in one of Molly McArthur's sets for Tobias and the Angel. Another was the representation of the distant Palace of Val- halla in the Ring at Covent Garden.

{Strand Electric)



556 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS Aug. 2, 1946

Directional Light The gradual introduction of the cyclorama

into certain sections of the English stage made the use of battens somewhat obsolete, as of course no light must strike the cyclorama itself except its own lighting. It therefore became somewhat difficult to light the acting area, particularly up -stage where the spot batten could not reach. This led to the further use of directional light units in the form of funnel-shaped lanterns with silvered glass reflectors, giving narrow beams of light of about 20o to 30o, with 1,000 watt lamps. So successful were these that they quickly began to be used for all types of productions, whether there was a cyclorama or not. Thus, another of Craig's dreams came true, and in the big London productions the battens began to be purely auxiliary to large banks of this type of lantern. A similar lantern was also devised for front of house and side of stage lighting, using a similar reflector but with a parallel beam like a miniature search- light. Like everything else in the theatre, these received a name entirely unassociated with their construction and use, and are known as " pageants."

To-day, therefore, the bulk of the stage lighting is by the use of directional light, made possible by the spotlight, the acting area and the pageant type lanterns.

Control Perhaps one of the biggest improvements

since 1918 is in the control of stage lighting. As most people know, control of the intensity of the light is effected by means of what is called a dimmer. Electrotechnically, this is a variable resistance, something on a very much bigger scale, but similar in function to the volume control on a wireless set. Dimmers succeeded gas valves, and those of 1881 were of the wire type. Mainly owing to lack of technical knowledge, these were always breaking down, and in England this led to the introduction of the liquid dimmer, although the Continent and America stuck to the wire dimmer. Liquid dimmers did not begin to lose favour in this country until about 1930, when the improved design of the metallic dimmer began to supersede the old dimmer pot type. Since then many improvements have taken place. The introduction of indi- vidual and collective control of dimmers necessitated the invention of self -release handles so that not only could one dimmer come to the up-and-down position after or before its neighbour, but also, through the

collective control of banks by the grand master handwheel, any bank of dimmers could proceed in any direction irrespective of the direction of other banks.

Mainly owing to Harold Ridge and F. S. Aldred, the formula for winding the dimmers was improved. The lumen output of a lamp which is regulated by a dimmer does not decrease at the same rate as the voltage, the lumen output dropping to about 35 per cent, at 75 per cent, voltage. Ridge and Aldred produced a formula for a special winding which on a ioo-stop dimmer gave 50 per cent, lumen output at the 30-stud position.

During the last ten years the Continent and America have developed the transformer dimmer - the Continent using mainly the tapped transformer type, and the Americans the D.C. saturated choke, on which the direct current is obtained by means of the thyratron valve. Expense is the main reason why this type of dimmer has not been more universally adopted in this country, although there are in use at the Palladium a number of dimmers of English manufacture which are of the tapped transformer type.

The man in the street does not realise the enormous amount of control gear employed to produce the electrical effects seen on the stage. Most London theatres use 80 to 200 dimmer ways according to the size of the production.

Remote Control The last ten years in England has seen the

steady growth of remote control of stage lighting apparatus. Its development has been largely due to M. Mansell and Frederick Bentham. Bentham realised that stage lighting was becoming so unwieldy in the large play- houses and opera houses that some simple method of control was wanted. James Fagan in 191 9 stated : " The day is not far off when we shall see the electrician an artist as well as a technical expert, seated at his switchboard like a player at an organ sending forth the rhythmic harmonies of light." Bentham consolidated Mansell's invention of the magnetic clutch-operated dimmer, which had made possible the remote control of the enormous dimmer bank at Covent Garden, with that of the keyboard of the electric cinema organ.

Space and time prevent my giving vou the details of this enormous step forward in stage lighting control. Sufficient to say that its operation is simple, its advantages enormous, and the various effects obtained by its unique




design unlimited. Some of you may have sat in the first circle at the Palladium and seen a young girl on the right of the Circle seated at what appears to be an organ. It is, but not a musical one. Its purpose is to control the lighting devised by Robert Nesbitt. The Light Console, as it is called, was also selected in 1 94 1 (in opposition to German and Italian competitors) by the Portuguese Government

for the State Opera House at Lisbon and the San Carlos Theatre, and, despite air raids, submarines and other enemy action, including the bombing of the London Docks, it arrived there together with the rest of the £10,000 equipment. The procession of lorries, with sixty packing cases with the slogan printed on the side - " BRITAIN DELIVERS THE GOODS " - was somewhat galling to the

{Strand Electric) Fig. 4. - Remotely -controlled dimmer bank , State Opera House , Lisbon



558 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS Aug. 2, 1946

German firms who were engaged on other electrical work in the same building. The apparatus was first used at a gala performance in 1 94 1 to celebrate the three-hundred years' independence of Portugal.

Earlier in this talk I mentioned that the man in the street did not realise the amount of apparatus that is necessary to produce electrical effects on the stage. To give some indication, here are some of the connected

The Red Army Theatre, Moscow . . . . 4,145 Kilo Watts.

The above loads are exclusive of any D.C. supply for arc lamps.

During the last twenty years the scientific design of stage lighting apparatus developed through reflections and optical systems has placed at the disposal of producers such apparatus as makes the portrayal of realism in the English theatre the finest in the world.

(. Strand Ele clric ) Fig. 5. - Remote control desk for a small theatre

electric loads of some of the theatres of the world : - Royal Opera House,

Covent Garden . . 850 Kilo Watts. The Berlin State Opera

House . . . . 1,220 ,, ,, The Metropolitan Opera

House, New York . . 870 ,, ,, The Opera House, Black-

pool . . . . . . 350 „ The London Coliseum 470 ,, ,, The London Palladium . . 483 ,, ,, The St. James's Theatre 200 ,, ,, The Memorial Theatre,

Stratford- on- Avon . . 120 ,, „ The Roxy, New York . . 2,500 ,, ,,

Illuminating engineers having devised the ideal apparatus, its intelligent use by producers can make a scene of flat drab painting become a thing of beauty, whilst the theme and mood of the play can be unconsciously conveyed to the audience. For the straight play I quote only one example, namely, Owen Nares' production of Rebecca. In this type of production I mention just one or two of the best known producers who, from a lighting point of view, are outstanding : Tyrone Guthrie, Robert Atkins, Charles Hickman and Hylton Edwards of the Gate Theatre Company, Dublin, whose lighting of The Picture of Dorian Grey is one of the finest examples of directional lighting I have ever seen.




Colour The improved designs by illuminating

engineers of the apparatus I have mentioned have led to the greater use of colour, particularly in connection with directional light. In this country there have been many outstanding " colour " shows by illuminating showmen. Space prevents my mentioning them all, but there are some which will live in my memory for ever. Wilhelm's production in about 1900 of A Midsummer Nighťs Dream

in itself. This has been due to Robert Nesbitt, who has used directional colour light more than any other illuminating showman. Typical examples of his artistic rendering are such spectacles as Black Velvety Gangway and The Night and the Music .

Theatre Lighting as a Synthetic Trainer for War

Up to the moment I have traced the various steps and methods of Continental, American

( Strand Electric Fig. 6. - Light console control as installed at London Palladium

as a ballet with the dancer Genée at the old Empire ; Oscar Asche 's original production of Kismet , almost a prophecy of the techni- colour film ; Loie Fuller's ballet - a very early example of directional coloured light ; and Adrian SamoilofFs illusions at the London Hippodrome where by means of coloured light he changed the scenes, costumes and complexions of the actors, and turned Mr. George Robey in a black tuxedo into a negro in green and orange pyjamas.

It is perhaps during the last three years that coloured light has become part of the spectacle and a source of ccsthetic enjoyment

and English practice, and I now come to the use of stage lighting as a service to this country in its fight against Nazism.

Theatre lighting equipment was fully mobilised for war service, not merely for its conventional use on numerous stages from which the troops were entertained, but in the more exacting purpose of training for battle. Numerous devices were produced for the instruction of the Services in the use of much specialised equipment with which they had to become familiar in the shortest possible time. This was generally knowTn as synthetic training. One of the most important require-




ments of such training was that the conditions should be sufficiently realistic to enable the pupil to accept them without question. The essence of all training was the need to provoke the sub-conscious to automatic action. If the synthetic trainer was intrusively " phoney," the pupil was merely learning to use a gadget and the stimulus to the sub-conscious was lost.

In many of the synthetic trainers a considerable degree of realism was suggested,

response to the helm and the assumed direction of the sea. All the movements of the bridge were transmitted electrically to a remotely situated crab recorder so that the course of the ship was correctly plotted. This recorder was linked to another recorder which plotted the course of the target ship. All movements of the latter were transmitted to a magnascopic epidiascope projector suspended in the centre of the cyclorama. A scale model of the target ship was illumi-

( Strani Electric) Fig. 7. - Stage of State Opera House , Lisbon

particularly in a series of Torpedo Attack Teachers for the instruction of Service personnel of aircraft, destroyers, submarines and M.T.B.'s. A large cyclorama, about 44 ft. in diameter and from 20 ft. to 23 ft. high, curved inwards at top and bottom and completely circular, was constructed. The lower portion was painted to represent the sea. In the centre was a machine representing the aircraft or the bridge of the destroyer, etc., capable of being operated realistically. The bridge of the destroyer, for instance, would pitch, roll and yaw, and be capable of correct

nated by high intensity lamps, and a realistic image projected through a system of moving lenses of a size and appearance indicative of the correct range and bearing to the observer on the bridge. The target ship's speed and course were under the control of the instructor, so that, in addition to the automatic movement of the image relative to the speed and bearing of the attacking ship, evasive or aggressive action was practicable, and in the case of aircraft the image of the target ship was enlarged and manipulated to give a deck view as the 'plane dived towards the object.



Aug. 2, 1946 THE EVOLUTION OF STAGE LIGHTING 56 1

A number of smaller projectors suspended round the cyclorama gave realistic movement to the sea, and others projected clouds of various formations on to the upper portion of the cyclorama. Banks of cyclorama flood lanterns, with appropriate colour media, gave the general diffused lighting, and it was possible to represent, with realism, a variety of effects such as sunny day, dark night, sunset, moonlight, etc. At " night " the ship appeared as a silhouette, an effect obtained by bringing into use a screen behind the model and

represented, and when carrying out the attack the officers under instruction readily accepted the conditions as real and found the experience both stimulating and exciting. Cases of " sea- sickness " were not unknown !

The exercises could be carried out from long before the target became visible until after the torpedoes had been fired and the evasive action taken. The assessors could then quickly plot the courses of the torpedoes, which would be transmitted to the cyclorama as thin lines of light, and it could be demon-

(, Strand Electric) Fig. 8. - Stage of Royal Opera House , Covent Garden

altering the angle of the lighting ; additional night realism was contrived by the projection of an artificial horizon.

The lighting effects were operated by means of a remotely controlled, motor-driven dimmer bank with magnetic clutches designed by F. Bentham. The effects were pre-set and operated by a series of single push-buttons which would automatically bring the dimmers into the required positions. Numerous other effects were provided, such as a breeze above the wind-screen, the noises of wind, sea, gun- fire, etc., and various signal and other lights.

The bridge Was fitted with all the actual instruments appropriate to the type of vessel

strated whether a hit had been scored and, if so, where.

Numerous other types of synthetic trainers were devised - Bombardment Tables, Flare Dropping Apparatus, Visual Flying Trainers, Crew Trainers, Ship Recognition Trainers, etc. j and in almost all there was a considerable use of theatrical lighting to give realism. A large staff of engineers were kept con- stantly engaged on the development, super- vision and erection of about sixty of these trainers which have been erected in all parts of the United Kingdom and the Empire.

The time limit has made it necessary for me to limit my talk to outstanding historical data



562 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS Aug. 2, I94Ó

which I thought would be of primary interest to you. Many items have had to be left out altogether, such as " Black Light," fluorescent mercury vapours, luminous discharge tubes, etc. One could talk on this subject for several hours instead of forty-five minutes, and so, if there is any historian here to-day who thinks I have been terse in omitting what he regards as important, I hope he will forgive me.

I should like to thank Mr. Corry, Mr. Ridge and the Strand Electric and Engineering Co., for the loan of lantern slides, and the Society for honouring me with the privilege of giving this talk, which I hope has been interesting and informative.

DISCUSSION The Chairman : I am sure that we are all

most grateful to Mr. Applebee for his lecture ; I, myself, have waited twenty years to hear that lecture. One of the rather sad aspects of stage lighting is that, in spite of the tremendous developments in that field, all the people concerned do not co-operate. I can only remember one production in which there was complete co-operation between all concerned ; that was at Drury Lane and I think the results were most happy. On the whole we are too much split up into water-tight compartments, and although Mr. Applebee has shown us some beautiful results of co-operation, that is not how the theatre works to-day. People tend to work in scattered places on a production, without knowing to which theatre it is going. Then the production may go round the provinces for six months with lighting equipment which, as it has to be carried about, has to be of a modest type. Let us hope that one day the possibilities which are opening up before us will come true. I think that one of the things greatly needed in the art schools, which are interested in all aspects of theatre design, is just such a talk as we have heard this afternoon.

Mr. J. K. Collyer : The lecturer rather skimmed over the question of fluorescent lighting, and when he mentioned the big electrical loads carried by some systems I wondered whether there was any future for the fluorescent type of lighting in the theatre. He also stressed the use of gelatine as a colour medium. I should like to know whether experiments have been carried out in the use of glass as a colour medium.

Mr. Applebee : The answer to the first question is that, provided that it is possible

to vary the intensity of fluorescent lighting without a jump, there is a big future for it, particularly for the cyclorama. It has been used as a " stunt/' but it takes time to light up ; as long as it remains static it has a certain value. The producers, however, do look for a means of varying the strength of the light. Very often it is necessary to vary the intensity right through a play. If it ever becomes possible to dim fluorescent lighting (but I doubt whether it will) there may be some future for it.

With regard to the question of glass, I did mention that in the early days of the cyclorama coloured glass screens were used, and one of the German systems of lighting also used glass. I think that it was owing to the fact that they had to use glass that they went over to the four hues of red, green, blue and amber. Red, green and blue, or alternatively orange instead of the red, are much easier to mix when gelatine or similar substances are used. It is probably because in the gelatine colours there are. besides the dominant colour, some of the other colours of the spectrum, that so many hues of colour can be obtained. We have never found a glass which gives us the seventy or eighty hues obtainable with gelatine.

During the war gelatine has been very bad, but I am very pleased to be able to say that from ist May next a new substance called " Cinemoid " will be available, which will overcome colour media difficulties considerably. It will be obtainable from anyone selling theatre lighting apparatus. It is non- inflammable and more colour-fast than gelatine and does not crinkle. I have made extensive search for coloured glass, not only on the Continent but also in the United States. The nearest approach in hues of colour was in the States, but as the glass has to be heat resisting, it has to be cast or moulded the exact size, and cannot be cut ; also add to this the fact that the thickness of the glass considerably cuts down the lumen output of the light source, together with the fact that only a limited number of hues are available, and you have the answer why gelatine or the new Cinemoid is preferable.

Mr. F. W. Rogers, a.m.i.e.e. : The pro- vision of structural support for spot lights is a major difficulty with many amateur societies, and I should like to ask whether there is any reason why such lanterns should not be made in some lighter metal, such as aluminium. I believe that castings in aluminium could be




obtained at about the same price as in iron or steel.

Mr. Applebee : The question of the design of stage lighting equipment is con- stantly under review, and research work is being carried out with a view to reducing its weight. Weight is an important matter generally in the theatre, because producers are asking for more and more apparatus, all of which has to be hung up. Take as an example the lanterns which go on the front of the Circle for remote control. In a new theatre it does not matter what their weight is, but in an old theatre it is impossible to hang a quarter of a ton on the front of the Upper Circle. The question of the use of aluminium has, of course, already been considered, because certain parts of lanterns are made of aluminium. Aluminium is a little difficult to work compared with sheet iron or steel. When the raw material situation eases, it will be possible to obtain lighter metals and then the weight of the lanterns will be considerably less.

Another point in connection with apparatus is that if it has to travel with a company on tour it must be robust. Railway porters are not always very careful in handling such apparatus, and therefore it has to be designed to stand up to a certain amount of " knocking about." Also, if it is made of sheet metal, it has to be of a certain guage, in order to comply with licensing regulations.

Mr. Frederick Bentham : It is necessary for the lighting installation, even if assembled for a particular production only, to form an instrument under the control of one man. This man should be an artist and not necessarily the electrician, in the same way that the scene designer is not the stage carpenter.

The inaugural opera at the National Opera House, Lisbon, was a good example of the powers of an installation in the hands (literally) of a man to whom it was an instrument of artistic expression. Owing to the last-minute rush to get open there was no time for a lighting rehearsal. I therefore directed the various lanterns in the positions I thought would be useful, bearing in mind the synopsis of the opera. I then sat down at the light console control in the orchestra pit with a full view of the stage, and proceeded to play the lighting according to the scenery, movements of the actors and music, all presented to me for the first time. The second act was a dawn on board ship lasting

the whole act, and it was easy to balance the cyclorama and acting area changes as the music and action proceeded.

There being no production to follow this opera, I was able to stage some recitals of lighting variations emotionally linked to music on simple settings, commonly known as Colour Music. The music was provided by gramophone records and so the show was really the lighting only. Six recitals were given and encores were always demanded. If it was possible to do this with the lighting alone, it is not difficult to imagine what could be done with the lighting to a symphonic ballet, " Presages " or " Choreatium," for example. However, the powers latent in most stage lighting installations will remain merely latent until one-man control in full view of the stage allows the artist directly to express himself.

Mr. F. B. B. Winter : A point has been raised during the discussion about coloured glasses. During the war the R.A.F. have been asking for coloured glass goggles and also for the laminated type of goggles with two outside glasses and an internal coloured one. The theatres should benefit from this development. The new gelatine or so-called laminated glass was a result of R.A.F. demand. It can be had in 300 colours, heat does not affect it and it is strong. The colour does not fade and it has been used with marvellous results.

The meeting then terminated.

NOTES ON BOOKS

Chinese Album. Indian Album. Cecil Beaton. B. T. Batsford. 1946. I2S. 6 d. each.

Two books have been published recently by Messrs. Batsford, Ltd., entitled a " Chinese Album " and an " Indian Album." The volumes, though light and easily handled, each contain nearly eighty pages of photo- graphs taken by Mr. Cecil Beaton for the Ministry of Information. They will give pleasure to many people, the general public, as well as to photographers of both professional and amateur status.

Mr. Beatón says in his introductory remarks to the Indian Album : " I longed to start then and there on my photographic mission," and this feeling of excitement will be readily



the evolution of stage lighting

Documents