What is a Lighting Designer?

Of course audiences need to be able to see the actors, but skilled lighting designers can make audiences focus on a particular individual or moment, change the pace of a scene, and create spectacular effects. In everyday life light affects how we feel. We talk about ‘the cold light of day’ or even the ‘dark night of the soul’ but for the most part theatre audiences aren’t aware of stage lighting and the key part it plays in creating the time, place, mood and atmosphere essential to performance. Once the Designer has finished the model of the set, the Lighting Designer needs to plan how to light it effectively. This will depend on how the director intends to use the stage, how and when the actors enter and leave it, and above all else, on how the final performance should look.