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Description
This thesis serves as a document showing the evolution of the lighting design from first reading of the script to opening night for the San Diego State University Theatre Department's production of Peter Pan & Wendy in November 2012. This production of Peter Pan & Wendy was an adaptation by Margaret Larlham of the original J.M. Barrie script written in 1904. This adaptation featured a live rock band and original music composed specifically for the show to aid in the transitions and storytelling and make the action more entertaining for the target audience of children. The challenges of this production lie mostly in the process that the director, Margaret Larlham, used to develop the production. Professor Larlham enjoys developing her stage productions as ensemble pieces in which the actors and director discover thematic elements and characterizations as part of the rehearsal process. As a result of this discovery-based approach, the production is often not finished until the show's opening. Included in this thesis are discussions on how I used the elements of the set in designing different lighting looks for each location. I will also discuss how I used automated fixtures in combination with conventional stage lighting instruments and LED technology to help with the creation of the different lighting looks. When using different types of lighting fixtures, a lighting designer must adjust and adapt to incorporate the lights in a way that augments the design. Included are discussions on how the set was used, how the lighting designer and projection designer worked together and compromised, and how full-scale puppets mixed with live action made the lighting design challenging. There is a brief section on the history of J.M. Barrie and his original story and how it has evolved through the well-known Disney version and the live-action, more sinister movie, Hook, that I personally grew up watching. Within the research there are images that influenced my final design as well as Photoshop[upper case TM]renderings of scenes that I presented to the director and cast during rehearsal to convey the feeling and mood of each locale. This thesis also serves as a performance report and therefore includes some of the tools that the lighting designer uses to communicate with the lighting crew. There are two plates of the lighting plot and the entire channel hookup; pieces of paper given to the master electrician so that the show can be hung and focused. The conclusion is a brief summary of how I feel I executed the design and contributed to the production as a whole. As always, a lighting designer sees things in performances of the show that he or she would have done differently and I will touch on them as well.
