In April 2022, I was the student lighting designer for the Duke Ellington School of the Arts theater department production of Animal Farm directed by Professor Eric Ruffin. Below is the design statement, photos from the production, the cue list I created, and the Vectorworks magic sheet I created.
Design Statement: The goal of the lighting in Animal Farm is to convey the cyclical nature of power imbalance through creating a sequence of cues that begin dismally, brighten up throughout, before eventually returning to the same dismal saturations and intensities. Additionally, the passage of time that moves this cycle along is conveyed through seasonal lighting shifts. An additional goal of lighting is to establish place and what world the audience is seeing; throughout the cueing process I asked the question how do I create “storytime”, barn, house, and eventually human worlds through form and saturation? Finally, the use of shadow work, saturations, and silhouette are used to create tension, poke fun at the musical moments, and bring to life Manor/Animal Farm.
