""^"-s^««u».™.^„„.„^
^
.0^
^^^
^^'
:<^
.^
o^^
si
^
.^^^
J^^
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE
LIGHTING
B OS -h^l "£-C^' /S cm C ^:'^7V\^ Ci M' THE HISTORY OF
STAGE AND THEATRE
LIGHTING
THE EDISON ELECTRIC ILLUMINATING COMPANY
OF BOSTON
852-;
X
Copyright; 192^
THE EDISON ELECTRIC
ILLUMINATING COMPANY
OF BOSTON
FOREWORD
i HE advertisements of this series, depicting the his- tory of Stage and Theatre Lighting, appeared during 1928 -1929 in the programs of Boston Theatres.
Many requests for the complete series prompted the publication of this booklet, which we hope you will find interesting. If, in your reading, you derive as much pleasure from its pages as we have in its prep- aration, then our effort has, indeed, been worthwhile.
The Edison Electric Illuminating Company OF Boston
O 1577^^
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
The birth of decorative lighting 9
The need for artificial stage Hghting 11
Candles light the first enclosed theatre 13
The origin of colored stage lighting 15
The first footlights 17
Eighteenth Century developments 19
Kerosene lamps succeed candles 21
The first use of gas 23
In the limelight 25
Electricity makes its entrance 27
The first electric spotlight 29
Electric candles make their debut 31
Edison's lamp a success 33
A modem spotlight 35
Futurism stimulates stage lighting 37
Diffused theatre lighting 39
Foyer lighting 41
Exterior lighting 43
Effective stage lighting 45
1 HE writings o/* Valerius Maximus tell us of the first crude attempts to enhance the drama by the use of decorative lighting.
^ This ancient scribe, writing in 78 B. C, pidures the dramas of the Greeks and Romans held out of doors in broad daylight. Over the cavea (orchestra and pit), gay awnings of red, yellow, and blue were stretched, and — fluttering in the breeze — bathed the players in softly tinted rays of the transmitted sunlight.
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
> <
[9}
1 HE need for artificial stage lighting came during the period of 1200 to 1400 A. D., when for the first time in history perfiarmances were given after the sun had set. Cressets, or crudely woven baskets of iron, mounted on poles, were filled with blazing pine knots and pitch, and by their fitful, flickering glare the audience viewed the tableaux and religious spectacles being staged.
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
["]
Early in the Fifteenth Century came the candle to light the stages of the first enclosed theatres.
^ Age worn parchments disclose the fad that in 1452 A. D. candelabra illuminated the stage. In addition, can- dles were placed in the streets and upon house tops and towers of the stage settings — marking the first endeavour at illumination from the wings which has now been perfe(5ted in our modern stage side lighting.
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
> — <
[■3}
Th e origin of colored stage lighting is traced back^ to one Sebastiano Serlio, ^;2 Italian theatre - worker of the sixteenth century.
^ In I55i,he perfedied a plan for placing candles behind bottles filled with red or blue liquid, the result being intensified by putting bright basins for refle6tors behind the candles. From this humble beginning has developed the gorgeous spectacles of color, so familiar to the theatre-goer of the present time.
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
Th e first attempt to use footlights for stage illumi- nation is credited to Nicola Sabbatini, an Italian pro- ducer, working in the early part of the seventeenth century. About 1620 he designed a parapet to be erected at the front of the stage with a row of oil lamps placed behind it. ^ ^ This rudimentary and meagre arrangement was the first step in the development of footlights in the modern theatre.
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
[•7}
^prison scene by Pi RAN ESI
r\s THE Theatre and its scenery developed in the eighteenth century^ notable advancemetit was made in stage lighting effeBs.
^ Perhaps the greatest scenic artist of this age was Gian Battista Piranesi (1720-78) of Venice, a lover of bold light and shade. He found that darkening the front of the stage and using a lighted background produced a marked illusion of reality upon his audience. Candles within lan- terns were his only means for creating this impression.
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
> <
[■9]
Ihe Kerosene Lamp was invented in lySj, in France.
^Just before the close of the century, managers of many playhouses throughout the Continent and United States installed this new method of lighting. It was an improve- ment over candlelight, but still left much to be desired. To vary the lighting effects small screens were pushed out or pulled away from the lamps by stage hands using long poles. How far we have advanced!
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
>^- ^
[-]
It was discove?rd in Ij8l that gas could be produced in sujicient quantities for illumination.
^In 1803, Frederick Albert Winsor, realizing the great advantage of open-flame gas burners over candles or lamps, successfully equipped the stage of the Lyceum the- atre in London with this new type of illumination. A few years later the Chestnut Street Opera House in Philadel- phia adopted this better method of lighting, manufacturing the gas with crude machinery in the basement of the theatre.
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
> <
C^3]
In the Limelight
Ct,It is interesting to trace the origin of the phrase " in the limelight," which has come to mean "the center of attraction." The " Limelight " was nothing more than a spotlight invented by Henry Drummond in 1816, but not used to any great extent until about i860.
CL, Drummond discovered that by heat- ing a piece of lime to incandescence, brilliant white light resulted, and this invention has been improved by lighting engineers until we have the present electrical "spot" without which no theatrical performance is complete.
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
[^5}
eL ec TR I C I TT
makes its entrance/
Electricity, so vital in modem
theatrical illumination, was used on the stage for the first time, in 1846, at the Paris Opera. At that time the rays of an electric arc were thrown upon the scenery at the rear of the stage to represent the rising sun. Thus, the crude arc light, invented by the famous Sir Humphrey Davy in 1808, which has been constantly improved by lighting engineers since that time, was the forerunner of the present method of stage illumination.
^\\\
tt
i
^i
"ws
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
> — — <
[^7]
They were seeing the effect of the first electrically operated spotlight, and the result was so striking that it won instant approval throughout the theatrical world.
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
> <
[^9}
Electric Candles
make their aeout
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
[30
Ed
ison s
ramp
>uccess
CLThe incandescent electric lamp, developed by Edison in 1879, rev- olutionized theatre lighting the world over. ©.In 1882 an Electrical Exposition was held at Munich, Germany. Here a small temporary theatre was erected and completely lighted by incandescent bulbs, so that theatrical managers might see the advantages of using electricity in this new form. CLIts success was so marked that the Bijou Th Boston, and the Sa in London, install tricity the same
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
[33]
A Mo Jern Spotlignt
1 he importance of an electric
spotlight in stage productions
was well realized by the famous
Ernest Stern in his settings
for "The Miracle"
(1911).
From the rear of the theatre, powerful rays were centered upon a single actor — dwarfed by the huge doorway behind — which created an awe-inspir- ing effect upon the audience.
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
[35}
FUTURISM
stimiilates stage ligliting
Futuristic, as well as cubistic art, caused a great sen- sation the world over about 1919. Their advent stimulated new ideas in electric stage lighting. Scenic artists needed something to accentuate their grotesque creations, and found that with the help of electricity, they could gain the desired effect. Both these radical movements in art have since been superseded by the present-day modern art. The above illustration is a futuristic scene taken from a German play, Die IVupper.
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
[37]
Diffuse J Tkeatre Lignting
ILLUMINATION, without bright, dazzling lights, or extreme contrasts, tends to rest the eye and promote relaxation. For this reason, diffused lighting, or lighting that spreads evenly without glare, has become the ac- cepted mode for modern theatres. One of the most pleasing forms of diffused lighting is the decorated glass panel ordinarily used beneath the balcony. Through this panel, colored lights in varied tones bathe the audience in a soft glow, not unlike the effect of sunlight transmitted through the colored awnings used by the Greeks and Romans more than one thousand years ago.
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
[39}
FOYER LIGHTING
Only in recent years have theatre managers realized the in- trinsic value of their foyers for attracting and impressing the public. Pleasing decorations and carefully planned lighting for this part of the theatre now receive very close attention by the management.
Illustrated above is a typical modem foyer, appointed in the style of the Italian Renaissance, and the illumination by lantern- type electric torchieres gives a final touch of realism.
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
> <
[40
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Theatrical men have come to realize the great impor- tance of having the exteriors of their playhouses artistically illuminated.
Harsh, garish brilliance has given way to softly modulated and blended lights, which harmonize with the beauty of the structure, and bring out its architectural grace. Illuminating engineers are responsible for the increasing number of such modem lighting installations ... A typical example of such an installation is the Ziegfeld Theatre, in New York City, illustrated above.
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING > _ <
[43]
EFFECTIVE STAGE LIGHTING
Stage lighting for the modern musical revue requires the skill of expert illuminating engineers. The success of a beautiful scene that holds an audience spellbound for a few moments is largely attributed to perfed harmony in lighting . . . which has taken, perhaps, many months of study to design.
The scene illustrated above, entitled "Cleopatra's Barge,"
is from the Casino de Paris Revue,
"A Night in Paris."
THE HISTORY OF STAGE AND THEATRE LIGHTING
> <
[45]
D O
92
|
DUE DATE |
|||
|
VM |
■m |
||
|
1^ |
|||
|
mmah |
|||
|
"•^ |
|||
|
' " '^ V |
!9f |
||
|
MAK 03 |
99 i |
||
|
UtC '5 - |
|||
|
t |
|||
|
t |
|||
|
201-6503 |
Printed in USA |
^-
DATE DUE
ipnr
wr
3MN 1 % mi
NOV i
4^ttt
t2D[^
f\^A
Demco, Inc 38-293
_NPRTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY LIBRAR
3 9358 00923370 8