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book
and covers various systematic approaches to
lighting from McCandless to jewel lighting. I
consider this chapter a theatrical lighting designer's toolbox. Chapters twelve and thirteen
take the reader through the process of creating a
light plot and putting it into the theatre. They are
very instructive about the activities and thought
processes employed by a designer in arriving at
a finished and installed plot. Once again, some of
the steps may be unnecessary or often impossible
under more extreme production schedules, but
knowing about these organized and methodical
procedures will serve the student well.
Chapters Fourteen through Seventeen cover techniques and considerations for the lighting in a wide variety of performance venues,
performance genres, and non-theatre related
lighting fields. These three chapters should be
required reading for any undergraduate student
who is interested in having a career as a theatrical lighting designer or as a professional in one
of the many non-theatre related disciplines.
The final chapter is a solid and comprehen-

theatre design

& technology

reviews
sive overview of the topic of projection and lighting.
Everything is covered, from the history of projection
to modern digital projectors and media servers.
Included are numerous details about techniques
and projection considerations. Anyone who is undertaking projections for the first few times should
consider this chapter a must-read reference.
This book would be tremendous overkill
for the kind of basic lighting course that I am
currently teaching. On the other hand, it would
be an excellent text for undergraduate students
whose ambition is a lighting design career. The
author obviously has considerable experience
in a wide variety of lighting related fields and
has numerous connections with professionals
in all those fields. He provides numerous sidebars throughout the book containing individual
profiles of many contemporary lighting professionals from a wide array of lighting fields.
So what are the negatives? I really liked the
designer profiles, especially those that included
a photo of the designer/professional. Some did
not have photos. I wish they did. Throughout the

spring

2012

text some of the photo graphics have very low
contrast which reduce the overall quality and effectiveness of the book. Lastly, one error caught
my attention on page 225. In an illustration
about lighting symbols, the graphic symbol for
"26° Source Four" is the same as the symbol for
"19° Source Four." The 26° symbol is incorrect.
It has one too many lines. This leads me to ask
the question, "If an error in the text is called a
typo, is an error in a graphic called a grapho?"
Bill Browning is professor of theatre
at the University of Delaware where he
heads the technical production area of the
Professional Theatre Training Program
and regularly designs lighting and scenery
for the Resident Ensemble Players (REP).
He currently serves as a Director at Large
on the USITT Board of Directors and as the
associate editor of TD&T for the Technical
Production Commission. He also serves on
the Archives Committee as the archivist for
graphic and photographic materials.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2012