Another Year 9 parents’ evening. Keen to fill a class for the next academic year, it is a question many drama teachers dread: ‘John is interested in technical and backstage: do you teach lighting as part of GCSE Drama?’ ‘Yes’, says the drama teacher eagerly, although they know that September heralds the start of another year of continuous marking, assessments, laborious administration, report writing, lunchtime and after school rehearsals…I could go on! While they have every intention of mastering a lighting board themselves, before the new academic year begins, the teacher already knows that this will prove difficult. They also know that, unfortunately, continued pressure may mean that John will merely be shown the Drama studio's lighting board and allowed to eat his sandwiches in there every lunchtime, while he reads the lighting board's manual – if there is one!
Some drama teachers are lucky to have a group of students keen on learning the backstage ropes. In my initial teaching years in the secondary sector, my department was indebted to a cluster of Year 8 pupils who were more than happy to spend their time deciphering the lighting board handbook. They would attempt to relay their newly found knowledge back to my colleagues and me, but with the usual meetings to attend or phone calls to make, they would simply be encouraged to just carry on programming. Before these budding technicians left school, it was always a last-minute scramble to gather some younger students together whom they could pass their knowledge on to. Once a student showed themselves to be a keen technician it was always a case of saying, ‘By the way, you’re needed for EVERY school production and concert that goes on in the Drama studio for the next five years!’
It is always wonderful to see these pupils go on to pursue their technical training at specialist drama college or university – many of them are now professional lighting designers in their own right! While it is touching that these pupils thank me for introducing them to lighting, I am the first to admit that I simply provided an introduction, and then left them to it. I just allowed them the time and space to teach themselves. I think that I speak on behalf of many drama teachers when I say that, back then, I simply did not have the time or specialist knowledge to teach my pupils about this crucial theatrical area.
Curriculum requirements
Alongside sound, set, and costume, GCSE Drama specifications allow students to select lighting design as their practical specialism, with it constituting 60% of the final grade. Students are required to design and work the lighting in support of a performance, helping communicate meaning to an audience. Alongside this, their design must help establish location or time, and enhance the piece's mood or atmosphere.
An effective Drama department's Key Stage 3 curriculum is informed by the GCSE Drama course's content and prepares students for the various demands of the latter. However, it is crucial that planning also accounts for theatre's technical aspects, introducing students to a world they may never have been aware of.
‘Lots of Drama teachers teach performance, but keep away from the technical aspects’
Ian Evans is the Head of Stage Management at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD), an institution with an international reputation for excellence in technical and design training. Keen to support the teaching of lighting within a GCSE context, he reports: ‘Lots of Drama teachers teach performance but keep away from teaching the technical aspects, although it is very important that lighting is taught. Starting to teach lighting can be difficult, especially with modern theatre's systems relying less on fresnels and profiles, as LED lighting and more sophisticated control systems come to the fore.’
Today's youngsters however are more technically advanced and there are lots of easily accessible online resources that provide basic lighting training. Francis Reid's books on lighting also start with the fundamentals.
Start ‘em young
© Kirsten Mcternan
Stage management students at RWCMD get stuck in with the rigs
In order to promote GCSE Drama, my department realised that we had an obligation to teach technical theatre. So, we started with the basics, introducing technical theatre in Year 7. Lanterns were shown to the students, and gels handed around the class. Held before torches, their effect was revealed as the numerous colourful washes shone on to a suspended white sheet. Colour moods were discussed as new gels were introduced, and excited ‘ooooos’ erupted when the leaf shaped gobo was held within the beam. I was a lucky Drama teacher with access to a Drama studio, lighting rig, and selection of different lanterns; I could physically show the pupils each lantern and demonstrate various lighting intensities – such as cross fading, and black-outs.
© KIRSTEN MCTERNAN
‘Experiment with your studio's lighting equipment … and don't be afraid to make mistakes’
The Stage Management course at RWCMD allows for a multidisciplinary path
Many Drama departments do not have the luxury of a technically equipped studio, but all Drama teachers are equipped with an imagination – remember the torch, gel, and white sheet? An imaginative Drama teacher can inspire their students, whatever their resources.
Our Year 7 scheme of work focused on technical theatre and design, with Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as our inspiration. Having explored this as a performance text at the start of the year, the pupils already had an excellent working knowledge of it. (Our English department was delighted with the cross curricular link – tick! – having studied Dahl's Boy earlier in the year.) Via YouTube clips, and our taught lessons on lighting, set and props, the scheme culminated in the pupils making shoebox sets of their favourite scenes from the text.
‘If you want, you can bring your sets over to the department at the start of school’ we suggested. The following week masses of excited Year 7s appeared with their colourful box sets. Inspired by their newfound knowledge, some designs even included working lights, with sweet wrapper plastic colouring the beams. The pupils reported that they had loved this homework, and we enjoyed learning about their ideas through their class presentations, their box sets taking pride of place.
Courses for all
Enthusiastic about outreach, the RWCMD is developing weekend workshops for teachers on how to teach lighting, as well as bespoke sessions planned especially for drama teachers which, I am sure, will prove very popular. Plans are also afoot for junior Stage Management and Theatre Design courses, ranging from day sessions to weekend/week courses for 11 – 18-year olds. These excellent opportunities will benefit teachers and pupils alike, as they begin to feel more confident talking about and operating the once dreaded lighting board. The RWCMD can only benefit; that keen 11-year-old may very well apply for their Stage Management course in 7 years’ time.
Ian continues, ‘Our Stage Management course attracts a mixed range of students, all with varied technical experience. Via their vocational training in Production Arts, A-Level Drama and Theatre Studies, or extra-curricular Drama, some already have a working knowledge of lighting, sound or Stage Management.’
The college's holistic course is designed to allow students to change their pathway during their study. ‘They may start their training with plans to specialise in lighting but could graduate as master of the sound desk.’
For those drama teachers scared of introducing lighting to students, Ian's advice is ‘to experiment with your studio's lighting equipment, if you have it, and don't be afraid to make mistakes.’ With some thought and creativity, anyone can inspire their students to pursue their technical dreams.
For more information on workshops and courses visit: https://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/