Designing for the Great Outdoors

The Big Dipper looms overhead. We gaze up at the sky, and there it is: a shooting star. It's a good omen. We are going to have a fabulous summer. Ten minutes later, back to work. The crew picks up crescent wrenches, tightens harnesses, and climbs back up — just another night of focusing lights at the Utah Shakespearean Festival (USF).

Ten years ago, I was asked to design the lighting for the productions in the outdoor Adams Shakespearean Theatre, one of the most authentic Elizabethan-