Reading Stanislavsky from a Stage Lighting Designer’s Point of View: Stanislavsky’s Notes on the Dramaturgy of Light

Abstract

ABSTRACT Stage lighting design is, mostly, referenced and researched in correlation to the scenographic history of theatre, often leaving in shadow the organic impact it has on the human beings involved in the theatre process, both in front and behind the footlights. Light, though, is not just a visual scenographic element; it is living, an orchestrator of the human vision; we still say, “I‘m going to see a play” and not hear a text spoken on stage. The beginning of the twentieth century was a turning point for theatre making, with Stanislavsky being one reference point for future developments. He made valuable remarks about lighting, proving that concentrating attention is an active process that does not happen by accident and that there are tools, like lighting, to facilitate that process. Key to my discussion here will be Stanislavsky’s notion of a light-initiated compartmentalisation and manipulation of stage space, i.e. the identification of specific sections on the stage the limits of which are set by light: circles of attention. Stanislavsky’s circles of attention support the statement that lighting serves as a “magnifying lens” that draws the viewer’s focus to particular areas or actions on stage. This article will elaborate on the potential of Stanislavsky’s circles of attention to the dramaturgy of light, shedding light on various extracts of his writings where the dynamic functions of stage lighting are observed and described in an experiential way.