Professional Lighting & Production - Winter 2018 | Page 21

show. On one page of script, there could be
six different locations. The show is very cine-
matic because for two lines, one actor might
be in a kitchen and then you jump to another
location, which might be in a school. Then
you jump to another location, which might
be the interior of a bus.”
The locations, like the costumes, couldn’t
be represented in great detail. “So the lighting
would take you to one place where the actor,
with what he or she was saying and wearing,
would let the audience know where they were.
This show was all about establishing that loca-
tion quickly – and getting out of it quickly.”
The rear wall served various purposes in
that effort. “It was kind of like a cyclorama. Also,
the slats were maybe not quite a half-inch apart,
so upstage of this wall was a black scrim mount-
ed so I could silhouette the slats. We could give
this wall many different dimensions: front lit,
you couldn’t see the slats in it; backlit – at times
we’re in a church and I don’t light the front, I
light the back – you see the slats and it looks like
an old church. We had to attack that wall and
give it many textures and dimensions.”
A variety of other effects were hidden
there: lighting elements used to create a starry
night, doors that open to other locations such
as the baggage holds of the plane, two hori-
zontal neon strips running the length of the
wall to create an abstract but highly effective
and immediately recognizable representation
of an aircraft interior...
“So we’re trying to get a lot of variety out
of a simple wall, but one with a lot of tricks
hidden in it and the ability to be transformed
thoroughly by light,” Boritt adds.
As for the lighting rig, there are minor
changes theatre to theatre – primarily to adapt
to the footprint of the venue – but the ele-
ments are essentially the same, Binkley says.
Many fixtures are affixed to four overhead
trusses. “There aren’t really wings,” says Binkley.
“It’s an overhead grid that we’ve made for the
show that serves the purpose for the lighting.
It’s also great for the trees’ stabilization.”
Some elements, Binkley says, were partic-
ularly useful – the LED strips used behind the
wall, for example, “Which are really fantastic
because of all the colour variation that we put
on the wall,” he says. “We also used the Martin
MAC Vipers. They were a big, driving force
throughout the show. They were overhead
on the truss and used for a lot of specials
because, like I said, there are many different
locations, so a lot of down pools would come
up for the actors to walk into.”
In addition to overhead and front light-
ing, there are a number of fixtures hung on
the trees themselves, among them Par Can
56s and 64s and various practical lighting el-
ements, including a Tim Horton’s sign, which
further help to establish location.
“The practical lights hidden in and
around the set help signify location, but
they’re really just a signpost saying, ‘This is
where we are’,” Boritt explains, adding that
the trees also provide a number of places to
hang costume elements – hats, jackets, and
so on – out of the way, but close to hand for
the actors’ swift transformations from one
character to the next.
Much of the lighting design depends
heavily on fixed ETC Source Fours, LED pars,
and conventional incandescent pars. Driving
the entire rig is an ETC EOS Ti-8k console at
the FOH position.
Since its initial iteration, Come from Away has
evolved through its various productions. “We
did the show five times before it made it to
Broadway, so we kept playing with and add-
ing things,” shares Binkley. “The neon stripes
that I was talking about that sort of become
the airplanes, we didn’t add that until, I think,
we were in Washington, D.C., which was the
third time we did it.”
“It was a very, very collaborative room,”
Binkley continues. “That’s what’s so fabulous
about working on new material – on a new
musical. A lot of times, you’re putting in new
pages, so the writers were there every day.
We were making changes throughout the
course of the preview and tech time, and as
challenging as the show was for us all, it was
a pleasure to see the results of what we all
did together.”
“I often say when theatre tries to mimic
film and be very realistic, you generally fail
because theatre can’t just change location
every two minutes in a realistic, literal way,”
Boritt adds. “We’re moving physical objects.
It’s not a camera cut. But when we rely on
light and words, things can happen instan-
taneously in real time. Then the audience’s
imagination takes you from place to place.”
And that is what’s magical about Come
from Away, and theatre in general: “It forces
audience participation in way that a film
doesn’t and that’s really the power of live the-
atre,” says Boritt, “and the more I can embrace
that with design, the happier I am.”
Kevin Young is a musician and freelance writer
based in Toronto.
GEAR AT
A GLANCE
A partial fixture list from the Toronto
production of Come from Away
23 x Martin MAC Viper Performance
18 x Martin RUSH PAR 2 RGBW Zoom
30 x ETC Source Four Series 2
31 x Chroma-Q Color Force 72
30 x L&E Mini Strips
280 x ETC Source Four
64 x Par 64
26 x Par 56
3 x Lycian 1290 XLT Followspot
3 x MDG Atmosphere Hazer
3 JEM AF-1 MkII Fans
1 ETC EOS Ti-8k Console
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