Scenographic Light: Towards an Understanding Of
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Scenographic Light: Towards an Understanding of Expressive Light in Performance Katherine Joy Graham Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Performance and Cultural Industries January 2018 ii Intellectual Property and Publication Statements The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. Work relating to sections of this thesis (‘Scenographic Light’ and ‘Transient Architecture’) has been published in the following solely authored article. Graham, K. 2016. Active roles of light in performance design. Theatre and Performance Design. 2(1-2), pp.73-81. Work relating to sections of this thesis (‘Revealing and Concealing’ and ‘Light as Dramaturgy’) has been published in the following forthcoming solely authored article. Graham, K. 2018. [Forthcoming] In the shadow of a dancer: light as dramaturgy in contemporary performance. Contemporary Theatre Review. 28(2). © 2018 The University of Leeds and Katherine Joy Graham iii Acknowledgements First and foremost I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisors Dr Joslin McKinney and Dr Scott Palmer for their intellectual guidance, support, and belief in this project. I have learned a great deal from working alongside such inspirational and generous scholars. I would also like to extend my thanks to the School of Performance and Cultural Industries for providing a welcoming environment in which to work, and most especially for funding my attendance at several stimulating conferences throughout my study here. I would like to sincerely thank those who have offered valuable feedback on my work at all stages of the project, in particular I would like to thank members of the scenography working groups of both IFTR and TaPRA, members of the documenting performance working group of TaPRA, and the editors and peer- reviewers of Theatre and Performance Design and Contemporary Theatre Review. It has been an enormous privilege to organise two (so far!) ‘Performing Light’ events with Kelli Zezulka and I am enormously grateful to all of the attendants and presenters there for their inspiring contributions and encouraging enthusiasm for the subject. Special thanks indeed to Kelli for being such a wonderful collaborator. Thanks too to Yaron Shyldkrot for sharing valuable thoughts and resources on atmosphere. More personally, the move to research from a career in theatre making has meant a significant gear-change and I am very grateful to have had excellent support and encouragement from those around me. Special mention to Niamh de Valera and Mark Brier for offering me a bed (and endless cups of tea) in London for all those theatre trips, Xristina Penna for making me feel so welcome in Leeds, and to Adam Burgess for feeding me across the finish-line. To Dr Karen Quigley for her unstinting support, encouragement, and friendship. I am greatly indebted to my mother, Eileen, for the practical and financial help without which this research would not have been possible. Finally, heartfelt thanks to my partner, Kevin Sheeky, for his continuing support and for bringing light to my days in an onslaught of constant nonsense. iv Abstract In the expanded field of performance design research there is a growing understanding of the dynamic and affective capacities of performance materials, and how such materials may play a fundamental role in the audience experience of a given performance. Parallel to this research in scenography is a similar extension of the conception of the roles of light and dark in performance. Reconciling and extending these areas of research this PhD thesis posits the term ‘scenographic light’ to encapsulate the ability of performance light to actively inscribe dramaturgical meaning in space and time, arguing that light is capable of independently contributing to performance through its manipulation of space, time, and visuality. This doctoral research uses auto-ethnographic spectatorship as a means of identifying the unique contribution of light to performance. Employing a phenomenological framework to explore the dynamic role of light within performance, this study presents an ontology of light that is rooted in dramaturgical action. The experiential framework put forward in this research facilitates a theoretical discussion about the dramaturgical impact of light, revolving specifically around questions of how light affects other elements in performance, how it seems to perform as a material in itself, and how, in respect of these things, it can become a generative force in performance. By applying these questions to a wide range of contemporary performance practices I identify and articulate ways in which light can be considered a significant contributor to performance, working simultaneously with, but independently of, other elements in performance. The implications of this research invite an expanded view of the position of light in performance analysis, and suggest that the study of light may be productively aligned with explorations of audience engagement and affect. v Table of Contents Intellectual Property and Publication Statements ........................................ ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................... iii Abstract ......................................................................................................... iv List of Figures............................................................................................................vii Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 Research Context ..................................................................................................... 11 Historiographical approaches to light research ............................................. 13 Practitioner focused approaches to light research ........................................ 16 Analytic approaches to light research ............................................................. 24 Research Objectives ................................................................................................ 28 Research Questions ................................................................................................. 30 Chapter Outline........................................................................................................ 34 : Scenographic Light ................................................................... 36 Light in and as scenography............................................................................. 40 Scenography and the Scenographic ....................................................................... 42 Light as an active force ..................................................................................... 46 Studying performance light .............................................................................. 52 Conceptual Approach ............................................................................................. 55 Towards an active aesthetics of light .............................................................. 61 : Methodology ............................................................................. 69 Towards a New Methodology for Researching Light ........................................ 71 Light in live performance ................................................................................. 72 A spectator’s experience of light ..................................................................... 74 Using multiple examples of practice ............................................................... 77 The Fieldwork Process ............................................................................................ 79 Auto-ethnography and thick description ....................................................... 79 Field notes and reflective notes ....................................................................... 82 Note taking as method ..................................................................................... 90 The Critical Process ................................................................................................. 94 Performance Examples ........................................................................................... 98 vi : Light as Mediation .................................................................. 103 Mediation and dramaturgy ............................................................................. 110 Examples in this chapter ................................................................................ 114 Double Vision – Institute ....................................................................................... 116 Mediated vision ................................................................................................ 125 Transformation and Interpretation – Krapp’s Last Tape ................................... 127 Light as dramaturgy......................................................................................... 139 Unstable Light – Political Mother ........................................................................... 142 Revealing and concealing ..............................................................................