Theatre Design & Technology - Feb 1974 - 23

of the room. The acoustic criteria are in line with the
overall envelope design of the European hall or the
pavi Iion/amph itheatre.
This design technique requires a great deal of volume in
the listening area. The addition of articulators is therefore
mandatory for the development of several design features
necessary to achieve desired listening goals. One big
advantage of this design concept is that a symphony
concert can interrupt the run of a drama or musical
comedy with all scenery left in place in the stagehouse
and even on the stage.
Care must be taken in developing proper sightlines for
such a design. Forty feet downstage and forty feet upstage
of the proscenium arch serve as optimal limits for proper
visibility.
SHELL LIGHTING AND RIGGING
Some additional aspects of shell design deserve
discussion. They are: musicians' down lighting; esthetic
front lighting of shell and orchestra; shell rigging; and
comparative cost of the different types of shell design.

statement. Originally, strip lights were the only means for
providing down lighting for orchestras in vaudeville,
movie, ballet and opera houses. Color mediums with an
extremely low light-transmission efficiency were used to
color backdrops for theatrical presentations, and the deep
hues and intensity of these colors reduced the contrast
between the notes and the paper during orchestra
concerts, causing musicians to grudge the use of any color
medium for concert lighting.
However, if pastel color mediums are used, the high
light-transmission efficiency of these tints does not impair
reading capability and brings out the flesh tones of the
orchestra members in terms of the visual aspect of
concert-going. White light creates a harsh, death-like pallor
for those individuals who find themselves in its beam.
Stand lights are perfectly satisfactory for orchestral
performances, but there is prejudice on the part of
orchestra members against their use. Stand lights are
considered to be vaudeville/musical comedy
equipment, not suitable for a concert stage.

pit

2. Esthetic front lighting

1. Musicians' down lighting
Members of the orchestra must have sufficient light to
read their music as well as observe the conductor and
soloist. Recently orchestras have been asking for higher
and higher illumination levels on the stage. Subjective
tests of reading ability indicate that illumination alone
does not provide the solution to comfortable reading
conditions. Glare is an extremely important factor in
terms of intelligible reading capability, and it is essential
that the stage lighting designer be cognizant of reducing
glare as well as furnishing sufficient light intensity.
A common method of providing orchestral musicians
with illumination for reading is to locate strip lights or
spotlights with sufficient spread on pipes between the
ceiling panels of an articulated shell. In a contained shell,
medium angle spotlights are usually integrated into the
ceiling of the unit itself.
Strip or border lights tend to spill light on the shell as
well as on the orchestra, and therefore increase glare at
the musicians' desks. I mproperly angled spotlights have
the same effect. In view of the necessary height of the
shell's ceiling in both the articulating and contained
design, there is a great deal of reflection from the stage
floor which limits the designer's flexibility in presenting
an attractive stage lighting composition.

~

It is common knowledge that musicians will refuse to
play if front-of-the-house spotlights are trained on them
to produce an attractive stage picture. This prejudice was
created by the use of balcony rail and box spotlight
positions for symphony concerts. These Iights, coming in
at a low angle, blinded the musicians in various parts of
the stage, preventing them from reading their music and
interfering with their view of the conductor and soloist.
After a time the musicians revolted and demanded that
front-of-the-house spotlights be turned off for concerts.
They failed to realise that it was not the spotlights, but
their angle that produced the problem, and that a
symphony concert without proper front lighting throws
the entire front of the orchestra, the conductor and the
soloist into silhouette, providing a dull, uninteresting
visual concert experience. If spotlights are directed onto
the orchestra at an angle of 45 degrees or more, they are
perfectly satisfactory and will not cause any problems
insofar as musicians' reading capability is concerned. With
the current trend towards the use of a forestage canopy
for early reflections in the center orchestra section of a
multi-purpose concert hall theatre, it is becoming easier to
place orchestra front-of-the-house lighting in the proper
positions.
Front lighting should be composed of the required
number of cross light positions for the downstage sections

Many designers prefer to contain the down lighting on
the orchestra (e.g. narro'vv beam spotlights) and to
combine the effectiveness of improved reading efficiency
with a better visual effect, allowing the orchestra to stand
out in contrast to the side and rear walls of the shell itself.

of the orchestra, with two separately- dimmed cross-light
positions for soloists left and right of the podium, and a
third separately-dimmed cross-light position for the
conductor.

In terms of down Iighting, it is often said that
musicians require a white light and that color prevents
comfortable reading efficiency. Th is is not an accurate

House lights should not be placed on an automatically
timed dimming mechanism. It is essential that house
lighting dimmers be operated by manual control, so that

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

FEBRUARY. 1974

23
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Feb 1974
