The play of light

Light has always played a major role in theatre, whether it was artificial or natural light. Although we have only been able to speak of theatre lighting since the 16th century, light was already a necessary means in the Middle Ages to make art appear in its highest form.

---

However, when the performers asked for more "light", they were not asking for more brightness, but for more "illumination". They knew that a divine being could be perceived in light and that only through this power could they bring art back to the gods. Thus, lighting did not serve to brighten up objects externally, but was a means of making spiritual processes of the soul tangible. Through Rudolf Steiner's few references to lighting for eurythmy, it is clear that light eurythmy is not about representing external images, like a sunrise in a poem.

For me, light is a means of taking the audience on a journey full of consonances and dissonances. For example, when Faust puts the poisoned drink to his lips in his study in order to take his own life and then turns away from it again when he suddenly hears the choirs of angels, as a lighting technician and lighting designer, I try to make it possible for the audience to experience what he is going through as a mental movement at that moment.

I have three means at my disposal for this: the type of light source, the position of the lamp and the color of the light. The aspect of color plays a special role at the Goetheanum, which is reflected in the colored glass windows and the ceiling painting and in the stage space. The colored light provides the soul of the theatre play. This can be impressively experienced in the four Mystery Dramas by Rudolf Steiner, which will be performed again this winter on the Goetheaum stage with lighting designer, Peter Jackson.

Light has the power to make unimportant things appear essential by deliberately highlighting them or just as deliberately making them fade into the background. As a lighting designer in theatre, I am not only concerned with creating light, but also with creating shadows. Light and shadow, light - dark and between these poles, weaving the essence of colors. Everyone can find these elements in their heart and as a lighting designer on the Goetheanm stage, I try to discover these qualities in the individual plays that are performed and to bring them to light harmoniously or dissonantly through my artistic means.

---

---