Theatrical Lighting Design in the 21st Century A Critique Of The Acting Area Theory Of Lighting Design By DELBERT UNRUH Illustrations by Mark Reaney
The acting area theory of stage lighting was invented by Stanley McCandless in 1938 – 1938! He was then teaching lighting at Yale University. The theory was disseminated by his book, A Method Of Lighting The Stage, which is still available in print today. However, in 2023, the book and theory are now out of date.
A BRIEF HISTORY Louis Hartman, David Belasco’s electrician, invented the plano-convex spotlight in 1879. It was the first spotlight in the American theatre, and it came in 250 watt and later in 400 and 1000-2000 watt versions. The small diameter Fresnel spotlight became popular when the large diameter Fresnel lens, originally invented for lighthouses, became available for stage lighting purposes. Small Fresnels first came in 400 watt, 6” lens versions, with larger wattages and diameters coming later. Even larger units now exist for TV and motion pictures. By at least 1930, electricity had replaced all other forms of power in theaters in the US except Broadway, which held onto its ancient DC current supply. Theodore Fuchs published his book, Stage Lighting, in 1929. The ellipsoidal reflector was developed in Germany, first demonstrated in the US by Kliegl Brothers and first introduced into the theatre as the Leko by Century Lighting in 1933. In 1938, Stanley McCandless published his book, A Method Of
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designing lighting
Lighting The Stage. The work of Fuchs and McCandless, and others, resulted in the birth of the “Acting Area Method” of stage lighting. The method was invented as a way of getting maximum results from minimum materials, and minimum materials were all that were available in 1938.
THEATRICAL STAGE LIGHTING The first function of stage lighting is visibility. If you can’t see the performer, whatever else you are doing doesn’t make any difference. Here is a simple test: Give a person one light, a simple spotlight, and tell that person to light a performer