Along with so many aspects of art, stage lighting has changed rapidly over the last 100 years. Starting with the sun itself, theatrical lighting has evolved into a defined art form. Before the 1830s theatres throughout Europe and the U.S. were lit with a variation of candlelight and gas light.
While innovations throughout history made both of these forms of lighting sufficient for overall lighting effect, neither form could be controlled into a focused beam of light. Reflectors could be used to enhance brightness and colored liquid helped to create effect, but nothing to highlight an actor or event. In 1837 the limelight was invented. For the first time in history an actor could be singled out. This precise light was used to provide accents on stage.
How Limelight Was Made
Limelight was created by using a block of quicklime heated by a flame of oxygen and hydrogen. The flame was used to burn the gas which raised a small cylinder to white heat. This provided an intense point source that could be installed in a hand operated spotlight. The light emitted was very white and harsh. It could be colored by painted glass slides which could create effects such as sunrises, sunsets, and moonlight.
It also helped to create more spectacle by creating reflections from armor, spangles, glass, and foil that were sewn into the costumes of the time. All this combined to make the sensational scenes of melodrama come to life. By midcentury limelight was used to highlight the principal actors and important moments. Limelight was eventually replaced with the electric carbon arc.
Limelight's Significance in History
The use of limelight also helped to give rise to modern light design. The ability to highlight moments in the show allowed for a kind of artistic freedom that gas and candles could not give. It was no longer just about the ability to see the performers. How the actors were lit mattered even more.
Lighting design could also facilitate other aspects of a show in much more detail, such as time and place. The use of color in such a direct and focused manner also contributed to more flexibility in creating mood onstage.
Today point source light is used almost exclusively throughout the theatre. It may not be in the form of burning gasses as its ancestor was. But evidence of the limelight’s influence can still be seen today, even in our speech. Someone in the public eye is said to be “in the limelight”.
Obviously nothing contributed more to stage lighting as electricity has. However, limelight has its place in artistic history. Now the use of electricity and technology has raised the art of stage lighting into a whole and diverse new art.
Source:
- Stage Lighting Design: The Art, The Craft, The Life by Richard Pilbrow
- Light Fantastic: The Art and Design of Stage Lighting by Max Keller
Kerry Chafin - Kerry was educated at the University of Central Missouri in Technical Theatre specializing in Lighting Design. She is also a founding ...
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