The Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB) employed the much sought-after British choreographer Liam Scarlett to create an extraordinary vision for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The production recently finished touring New Zealand and soon heads to Australia and then on to China, featuring the scenic and costume work of Tracy Grant Lord. I designed the lighting.
Set in Grant Lord’s mysterious and fantastical forest, I created a lighting design full of dappled spaces that echo the character and emotional quality of Scarlett’s choreography, along with helping to underscore the beautiful Mendelssohn score from a visual standpoint. Illuminated flora were used to reflect the different parts of the forest, enhancing the storyline of each group of characters. The rustics and lovers, seen as hikers who get lost in this magical forest, get swept up in the fight between the King and Queen of the forest. Following the lead of Grant Lord’s costumes, the lighting gently shifts from the purple and turquoise color palette of Oberon and Puck’s domain to pale cool and lavender tints for Titania and her fairies. When the lovers enter, the jungle transforms into a more sensual but frightening place, with Puck lurking about in the shadows.
With a full stage bridge from down left to up right and numerous “fairy pods” hanging in the air, it was a challenge to find sidelight positions to help carve out the dancers while keeping shadows down to a minimum on the pods. We use 4,000 LEDs to illuminate the flora stems, 1,500' of side-emitting fiber optic to light the veins of the floating pods, and flex-type LED to ring the 10' moon in the distance. I have seven Harman Martin Professional MAC 2000 Performance fixtures from pipe ends to add texture and color from the side and nine MAC 2000 Wash units for a diagonal backlight system that adds a strong dynamic to the entire design. We also have a single Panasonic PT-DW10000U projector for the front of the scrim and used at the top of show and intermission. As house lights go out, the slide slowly zooms into a starlit evening. The lighting console is an ETC Ion 1500, due to all the LED universes, masterfully programmed by Cameron Nicholls.
As this all takes place in the realm of one night, I use a rather tight palette of color: blues, greens, purple, and lavender. For Puck’s solo, I kept it very sculptural, using blues and greens to accentuate the jungle atmosphere and highlight the iridescent fabric used by Grant Lord. The fairies were thrilling to light, with their translucent wings and organic flowing tulle. I used much stronger backlight to create a more ethereal light mixed with some pale lavender to add a bit of softness to the atmosphere.
How I Did That
The lovers and rustics, lost in this fantastical kingdom, are the softest of the scenes, lit with the painter Bruegel in mind. Slightly warmer, they are still surrounded by the forest, with danger just beyond the clearing. The Queen and Bottom’s pas de deux is one of the most amusing in ballet, and Scarlett choreographed a very playful duet that I lit with more sensual purples and blues, a bit more romantic in nature. At the top of Act Two, the fairies have just awoken from their slumber and the forest is painted in purple backlight and blue-green shins.
Since the production toured six cities in New Zealand and is heading to Australia and China, I was very mindful of setup and strike times for the production as the hours are very limited. Given the size and complexity of the project, the crew works right up to opening. Production manager Drew Lees, head tech Gavin Underhill, and head electrician Cameron Nicholls have done an extraordinary job of getting the show up and running smoothly. The entire staff at RNZB and the St. James Theatre worked tirelessly to achieve such a cohesive production.
We received strong reviews in every city, including from Jack Yan of New Zealand’s Lucire magazine, who called it “a ballet where the quality is jaw-droppingly magnificent, where choreographer, designer, lighting designer, and musical director have surpassed themselves, and where the dancers have reveled in bringing a production to life.” Dance critic Ann Hunt from Dominion Post, noted, “The magic and delight never let up. This is an absolutely splendid production of which choreographer, Liam Scarlett and the Royal New Zealand Ballet can be justifiably proud. One can see why he is the current wunderkind of British ballet.”
The production offers something for everyone. “An extraordinarily beautiful night at the ballet that will appeal across generations,” says Jennifer Shennan of Radio New Zealand.
Kendall Smith has been working professionally for the past 30 years as a designer for the stage and as a consultant for numerous theatre projects. He has designed for concerts, dance, musicals, and opera, including Andrea Bocceli’s US premier opera performance and has worked with Luciana Pavarotti, Denyce Graves, and Ruth Ann Swenson. As the resident LD for Michigan Opera since 1988, he has lit more than 70 productions. Regional opera companies include Florida Grand Opera, San Diego Opera, Virginia Opera, Ft. Worth Opera, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City. He assisted both Tharon Musser and Marilyn Rennagel on Broadway. His work has been seen at many regional, theatres including Oregon Shakespeare, Indiana Repertory, Pioneer Theatre Company, and North Shore Music Theatre.
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