A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, 2nd Edition

At last. The second edition of the book that we in the

theatrical lighting world have been waiting for has

arrived. This new, greatly expanded edition includes

a wealth of additional information, stepping through

the design process from the beginning (contracts,

budgets, bids, production schedules), through devel-

opment of the plot and tech rehearsal, and on to the

end (archiving). It includes helpful discussions of such

disparate topics as what to do about transport, how

to approach meetings, or how to cope with changes

during load-in or tech. Whether you are a lighting

designer on Broadway, off Broadway, in LORT the-

aters, for small or large dance companies who tour or

give one time performances, or for any kind of theat-

rical venture, you will find a way to get a handle on

your lighting process, both the craft and the design,

in this book.

It is totally comprehensive and written in such a

way that accomplished designers, as well as beginners,

can find information, know-how, and stimulating ideas

written in an organized and easily understandable man-

ner. It is staggeringly complete and therefore hardly a

volume for one’s back pocket, but I am sure it will find

its way into many a workbox, as well as the shelves of

studios and classrooms alike. If you own the first edi-

tion there is more than enough additional material to

warrant adding this second edition to your library.

In my experience as a teacher, I have learned that

it is important for a student to learn one way well.

Once that is done it becomes clear that any way—

the student’s way—is possible. Steve Shelley in A

Practical Guide for Stage Lighting, Second Edition,

has dissected his own carefully devised process and

generously presented it to the reader. He shows us

every aspect of lighting and how it becomes a part of

a total production. The emphasis is on craft but his

experience in design allows us to see how the two go

hand in hand. The how may well determine a large

part of the what.

It is through the light onstage that theater com-

municates with an audience. Only when one has a

richly developed and organized language, a clear way

of speaking, can one begin to express the light with a

nuance and subtlety that will reveal the depth of fine

performance. Once one has read and comprehended

this second edition of A Practical Guide for Stage

Lighting, one’s ideas in light cannot help but become

more organized and systematic, enabling one to com-

municate those ideas with greater depth and clarity.

This organization, coupled with a developed eye for

composition, is all that one needs to be a fine designer.

I have no doubt that this book will stimulate the

designing of better light onstage, and make better

lighting designers of us all. Bravo!

Jennifer Tipton

Lighting Designer

Foreword

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