Lighting designers make choices about the shape of light, intensity, color, how to mix color, and what directions the lights will come from.

Lighting engineers can make lights fade and brighten, cast shadows, create a sunset, light a lamp or darken the whole stage. They use spotlights and flood lights, special effects gobos and colored gels to create just the right lighting plan for a play.

Lighting the stage
The right lights are important because actors and sets need to be visible to the audience. Lights also need to convey the mood, the time of day, and special effects like fire, lightning, a rising or setting sun.

• Batten: the metal rod above the stage where some of the lights are hung
• Spotlight: a lamp that throws a powerful beam of light onto a limited area
• Follow spotlight: a moveable spot that follows performers as they move around the stage. Follow spots are usually located at the rear of the auditorium and are controlled by an operator.
• Floodlight: provides general light, like the glow of sunlight through a window
• Footlights: a strip of lights located downstage at the front, sometimes set into the stage floor. Most theatres today don't use footlights because they cast shadows on the back wall.
• Gel: a colored filter put in front of a lens to add to the mood of a light
• Gobo: a sheet of aluminum with holes cut out to make a light cast a shape

Planning and setting the lights
The lighting director plans the lighting for the show.
The electricians carry out the plans, hanging and adjusting the lights.
The main lights in the theatre auditorium are called the house lights.
These are dimmed when a performance is about to start.
Then the stage lights come on, and the show begins.

Light combinations
A designer uses a combination of lamps shone from the front, sides and back of the stage to create a balanced light that looks just right for the story being told onstage.

Lights for the eerie and weird
Top lights cast weird shadows on actor's faces.
Backlights give actors an eerie silhouette.
A colored light can change a mood from sunny to scary.