I am doing lighting design for an Agatha Christie adaptation. The director wants me to do less realistic lighting and more artistic, emotive lighting, which I'm having fun with. However there is a scene (two, actually) that is very very long, with not much change going on in dialogue, story or actor movement. There are no beats in the scene that I can use as motivation to change up the lighting, even in a more abstract way. It drags on quite a bit, which is sometimes an unfortunate symptom of book-to-stage adaptations I think.

The director and I were discussing how to make it more interesting with lighting, but we were both stumped, because the big emotional revelation is at the beginning of the scene and the rest is just nearly 30 minutes of the characters explaining their (already partially revealed) backstories to each other without much new emotion or dynamic motivation that might lead to a creative lighting moment.

What sort of design would you do in this situation? How would you make a long scene more dynamic with lighting when there aren't any major emotive or physical beats to play off of?

Looking for some advice.

Found space theater with low ceilings, usually the design accounts for this as I do moody and open concept designs.

Yesterday I turned on lights during rehearsal and found out afterward that all the lights were giving an actor headaches and trouble seeing. The lights are from the front at about 10' off the ground, side lights at head/chest height from SR, and floor movers from SL.

Today during tech we tried giving them sunglasses and our PM went out to get glasses that are specifically for LED sensitivities. Sunglasses didn't really help but the glare-specific glasses made it better. I am still wanting to do everything I can to make this actor more comfortable as the glasses the PM found today are not appropriate for the show. Other actors were encouraged to wear sunglasses if they wanted, but no one else seemed as bothered.

Anyone have any further advice beyond doing a redesign of the show? One plan is to get the SR heads up to high sides but I can only get up to about 13' and I fear it will be exactly the same problem if their sensitivity is to LEDs in general. They said they'd never had to act with a fully LED design, so this is new for them too.

Costume designer ordered amber and rose-tinted glasses (a very specific tint that the PM found was recommended for migraine sufferers), is this maybe going to solve it? I'm just worried about making this actor so miserable during the run of the show.

Hi tech bubble,

Which hazers or hazer fluids are particularly voice-friendly for singers?
I’m currently on tour in Europe as a lighting operator for a band, and it’s a relatively small-scale production. Whenever our lead singer has a cold or is otherwise feeling a bit under the weather, the "classic" haze used at these venues (typically standard smoke factory tour hazers or similar models) really irritates her voice—to the point where I have to run the show without any haze at all.

Because of this, I’m considering bringing my own hazer along for future shows, but I’m not sure which one to choose.

What has your experience been? Do you have any recommendations?
An MDG hazer, for instance, isn’t really a practical option—considering the cost, the size, and the logistics involved with the CO2 cylinders.

Thanks for your help!

Or is it more subjective?

Cheers