Lighting and sound for a 25-minute physical theatre work
A Year 13 student is the lighting and sound operator for a 25-minute physical theatre work in the school hall. The rig has eight fresnels, four LED wash units and 12 dimmer channels; there is no follow spot and no haze machine because a cast member has asthma. The director wants a storm that builds for 90 seconds, a sudden blackout on the final image, and a warm 'memory' wash for a duet. The student has one 8-channel sound desk, a laptop with QLab, two speakers and one 60-minute technical rehearsal. The hall has tall windows that cannot be fully blacked out, and the performance is at 7pm in December. The cast keeps drifting upstage, so faces fall out of the light. The teacher asks the student to submit a cue plan that is safe, repeatable and achievable with one operator.
1. Design a cue strategy for the 90-second storm using the available rig and one operator.
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Strategy: make the storm sound-led and colour-led rather than beam-led. With no haze and no follow spot, visible shafts of light are not achievable, so the operator should not try to imitate a commercial storm rig.
Cue plan:
- Storm build, cue 12: bring the four LED washes to a cold steel-blue at 40%, keeping the fresnels on the acting areas at 60% so faces remain readable.
- Cue 13–15: use three short 'lightning' bumps on two fresnels focused upstage, each no longer than a beat, with a slight delay between them. Do not strobe; the asthma risk and one-operator workload make rapid flashing a poor choice.
- Cue 16: bring the soundscape up through QLab in layers - wind, low rumble, then a sharper gust - and let the sound carry the build while the lighting changes are few and repeatable.
- Cue 17: on the final image, take the LEDs to deep blue and reduce the fresnels to 30%, then execute the blackout as a separate cue.
Reasoning: fewer cues mean fewer operator errors and a more repeatable technical rehearsal. The storm must not make the actors invisible; the audience still needs faces and spatial relationships. The sound desk and lighting desk should be adjacent, with cue numbers written on both plots.
2. Should the warm 'memory' wash come before or after the storm, and how can the student solve the 'muddy' lighting in the second half?
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Placement: put the memory wash after the storm and after the blackout, not before. dramatically, the storm should strip colour away; the warm wash then reads as a distinct memory or aftermath. If it comes before, it competes with the storm build and reduces contrast.
Practical solution: use one fresnel with a warm gel as a tight pool on the duet, at low intensity, and keep the LED washes out of that area. Do not mix too many colours on the same face - that is likely what is causing the muddy look. Check which fresnels are actually covering the duet and cut any front light that spills onto the back wall.
Second-half muddiness:
- Reduce the number of simultaneous colours. Choose one cool wash for the storm and one warm pool for the memory; avoid adding green or amber 'for atmosphere'.
- Re-aim the fresnels so the upstage drift is covered; if the cast keeps moving upstage, widen the focus slightly and add a low side light from the LED washes.
- At 7pm in December, the windows may still affect the room. Ask for blackout curtains or schedule a darkness check; if that is impossible, use the brightest cues earlier and keep the final blackout short and deliberate.
- Record the desk states and label them, so the operator can restore the look after a technical run.
3. What should be in the cue plan and risk assessment for the final blackout?
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Cue plan: the blackout should have its own number, a standby, and a clear trigger - for example, the final lifted arm or the last sound cue. The operator should have a printed cue sheet with the preceding cue, the standby, the GO and the next cue. The sound should fade with the lighting, not cut abruptly, unless the director wants a hard ending.
Risk assessment:
- Cast safety: mark the stage with glow tape at the edges and at the final positions. Rehearse the blackout exit at performance speed, not just in tech.
- Operator safety: keep a low-level work light at the desk so the operator can see the desk, but shield it from the audience.
- Emergency lighting: confirm that emergency lights are not on the same circuit as the stage lighting and that the blackout does not affect exit signs.
- Duration: keep the blackout only as long as the final image needs; a long blackout with moving cast is a hazard.
- One-operator limit: do not require the operator to leave the desk during the blackout. Put the laptop and lighting desk within reach, and label the QLab spacebar and the lighting GO.
Reasoning: the blackout is the highest-risk cue because it removes sight. A repeatable cue sheet and a rehearsed exit are more valuable than an elaborate final effect.