Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2022 - 39

performances to occur at night.
Before designing modern lighting for
traditional performances, it's important
to undertake a careful study and understanding
of the demands of the traditional
performances. No attempt should
be made to force modern lights on traditional
performances. The wishes of the
owners of these performance forms must
be respected. In cases where they accept
the deployment of modern lights on their
performance, the particular demands of
these performances must be taken into
consideration before designing the lighting
plot. When this is done, the originality
of these performances will not be
destroyed.
Jerry Idah Odeh is an
assistant lecturer and a Ph.D.
candidate in the Department
of Theatre Arts, Benue State
University, Makurdi, with
research interest in theatre design and
technology. As a growing scholar/researcher,
Odeh has enjoyed research contributions and
visibility within the scholarship space with a
commendable number of journal publications.
He is currently Assistant Examination's
Officer (Undergraduate), Member, Academic
Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)-Benue
State University Committee on Health and
Wellness, Member, Society of Nigeria Theatre
Artists (SONTA) and African Theatre
Association (AfTA).
Works Cited
Doki, Gowon. 2005. Traditional Theatre in
Perspective: Signs and Signification in Igbe,
Girinya and Kwagh-hir. (Makurdi: Aboki
Publishers).
Holub, Robert. 2005. Reception Theory. (New
York: Routledge).
Kwagh-hir. 2021. Kende Kaase Group, Mbatierev,
Gboko Local Government Area, Benue State.
Nzekwu, Onuora. 1981. " Masquerade. " Drama and
Theatre in Nigeria: A Critical Source Book. Ed.
Yemi Ogunbiyi. (Britain: Nigeria Magazine).
Ododo, Sunday. 2015. Facekuerade Theatre:
A Performing Model from Ebira - Ekuechi.
(Maiduguri: SONTA).
Onah, John. 2017. Performance and Expression in
Idoma Dance: A Socio-semiotic study of Ikyahoho
and Oglinya. Thesis. Department of Theatre Arts,
University of Abuja.
Oni, Duro. 2006. " Trends and Considerations in
the Aesthetics of Stage Lighting Design. " In Oni
Duro and Ododo Sunday ed. Technical Theatre
Practice in Nigeria: Trends and Issues. (Ibadan:
CBAAC): 73-80.
Parker, Oren, R. Craig Wolf and Dick Block. 2003.
Scene Design and Staging Lighting. 8th edition.
USA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Ogrinye. 2021. Adum East, Obi Local Government
Area, Benue State.
he developed in the 1930s. His philosophical
and ideological underpinning as stated by
Parker et. al. (2003, 377) is to provide proficient
and consistent lighting for the mobile
or moving actor on stage. This lighting system
is beneficial to the designer because " it
allows designers to view the stage as a grid
of overlapping lighting focus area. " A fundamental
feature of the area lighting method or
system is its adaptation to changes or development
in lighting instruments and theatre
spaces.
This research is anchored on this theory
because it is applicable to the arena stage.
Given the vastness of the arena stage used
in these performances, a flexible approach
to lighting where all players are evenly lit is
pertinent. This theory also provides ample
room to experiment with different lighting
instruments, multiple fixtures, and color
variations while realizing the lighting of the
select traditional performances. In tandem
with the African performative aesthetics,
McCandless' Area/method lighting theory
is appropriate for this experiment because
of its consideration of specific stage areas.
It also allows the lighting and or placement
of lights on every side of the stage environment.
The designer is not restricted to fix
and place specific numbers of lighting instruments;
rather such placements are informed
by the size and shape of the playing area as
well as the amount of control desired. The
designer can fix as many poles as possible
upon which lights will be rigged. The flexibility
of this lighting design formation makes it
easy to be integrated into the area stage.
Stuart Hall's Reception theory from
1973 focuses on individual response or interpretation
or meaning from a literary text and
on the scope of negotiation and opposition by
the reader when he or she engages a literary
text. This theory has been extended beyond
literary text to also capture theatrical performances.
The fundamental thesis is that the
reader/viewer does not passively accept the
text or performance. Rather, they interpret
the meaning of the text based on their individual
cultural background and life experiences.
It also means that the meaning of the text is
not inherent in the content of the text itself;
it is created by the relationship between the
reader and the text or performance. Holub
(2005, 46) writes that " without a psychology
of art, without the study of the unconscious
stimulants that are involved in the psychological
triangle of writer, literature, and recipient,
there is no poetic aesthetics. "
In the context of theatre production
or performance, reception theory is pertinent
because the owners of Ogrinye and
Kwagh-hir interpreted and gave responses
on the modern lighting experiment in their
performances. The responses of the owners
of these performances validated the researcher's
intention to improve visibility and
aesthetic outputs of these performances.
To decipher the impact of this experiment
on Ogrinye and Kwagh-hir performances,
the research study adopts reception
theory. In order to know whether the experiment
provided the expected effects,
the bearers of these performances must
be interviewed. Since these performances
were birthed by them, perhaps from their
socio-temporal and cosmo-spatial realties,
they stand a better chance of giving accurate
information about the potential of the
lighting experiment in their performances.
While there may be significant difference
between performers, perception and audiences'
reception, this research relies on audience
reception of the lighting experiment.
In this vein, how audiences perceive their
performance in this new lighting context is
devolved and analyzed by the researcher.
SUMMER 2022 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | 39
Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2022
