I have never had a bedtime routine, and I probably never will. Maybe that’s why I have such difficulty sleeping at night! Up until university, I’ve never had my own bedroom, always sharing with my sister, so that causes some disruptions to my night routine. I welcomed sleep as a teenager, getting it whenever I could and sleeping most of the day too, but moving into adulthood its quickly became something I fear and dread as the day progresses. There is no set time that I will go to bed, but my routine almost always starts with a cuppa tea! I’ll stick something on the telly, usually something binge-worthy like Gavin and Stacey or RuPaul’s Drag Race. In the meanwhile, I will take my make-up off, moisturise my face and then cover my face in Sudacreme to attempt to get rid of my spots (haha). When I get bored of TV or realise its actually getting too late and its probably passed 2 AM and I have a 9 AM the following day, I will brush my teeth and lay in bed for probably a good few hours until I finally drift off…. And probably get sleep paralysis! Ha!
In terms of the lighting design for the show, I want to create a calm environment for audience members. For this reason, I am determined to stay away from strobe lighting so it does not hinder any possible audience members from seeing our show. There are a few scenes which I am thinking of making the lighting more bright and colourful, however nothing drastic. The main colour of light I am wanting to use is blue as it “is associated with feelings of calm which, when picked up by your ganglion cells and relayed to your brain, helps reduce blood pressure and heart rate, all of which help you receive a solid night’s sleep” (Sleep.org, undated). The colour blue will sometimes be mixed with general washes too to add variations in the lighting throughout the show.
Sherbet Lemon Theatre was lucky enough to see the Wardrobe Ensemble’s education, education, education (2018) (EEE). The show sparked many ideas for the company, including a lot of lighting ideas for myself as the technical designer. In EEE the company used colourful and ‘funky’ lights which I thought was visually pleasing. Therefore, for our ‘fun’ and ‘quirky’ scenes, for example, our exercise scene, intro dance sequence and bows, I am thinking of using the mirror ball effect adding to the ‘sweet’ element of our show. Here is an example of the mirror ball in use from our tech day:
Mirror ball effect
(Denby, 2018)
Additionally, UV was used effectively in the performance of EEE which can assist with the portrayal of certain images especially if UV paint is used. I know we want a nightmare image of the ‘Sandman’ in our Sandman scene, and that UV paint will be used to draw an image of the ‘Sandman’ onto a bed sheet. I therefore made the decision to use UV in order to represent the creature of the sandman visually, which is assisted by the UV cannon. Here is what the final form of the scene looked like on show day.
Sandman image assisted by the UV cannon
(Sired, 2018)
Another scene which sparked an idea for sound from EEE was their ‘sex scene’ between two characters which similarly happens in our piece where the character Amanda goes on a slight tangent to Emma on a sex dream she had. We knew we wanted this scene to be humorous, likewise as it was for EEE. In terms of lighting I want to try a ‘passionate’ red lighting state which stereotypically connotes ‘lust’ in order to add to the sweet/humorous element of our show:
Red light used in ‘sex dream scene’
(Sired, 2018)
To benefit our company, I have created a Spotify playlist for our show in order for audience members to listen to some upcoming songs featured in the show (and to listen to it after the show too). I worked alongside our marketing manager Emily in order to advertise the playlist. I think this is a great way to connect with our potential audiences, as they are able to get a glimpse of our show before they actually experience it. Here is the link to our playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/8h4xqpf8hiypvwvwlh4qx35lm/playlist/5IiXtYg2qnNfu2seFwxXyu?si=vq_lweBfSEyqoIgF1D2Jrw
‘The Truth About Bedtime…’ Spotify playlist
(Spotify Technology SA, 2018)
The Wardrobe Ensemble with their show EEE also created a Spotify playlist which inspired my decision to make one. For reference if you would like to listen to EEE’s playlist which was used in their show, here is the link to their Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/newtynewts/playlist/2cssTlt5Da5n1bNTeXVjpd?si=_-Z4RgQ5T2Kyb-lNqT45fg
C.D.
Works Cited
Brennan, T., England, T., Greenslade, E., Jones, J., Lovell, K., Meadows, J., Middleton, H., Newton, J., Vardy, B. and Woolley, E. (2017) education, education, education [live performance]. Performed by The Wardrobe Ensemble. Lincoln: Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, 16 March.
Denby, C. (2018) Mirror ball effect [image].
National Sleep Foundation (undated) What Colours Are Soothing For Sleep. Sleep.org. Available from https://sleep.org/articles/best-colors-for-sleep/ [accessed 15 February 2018].
Sired, K. (2018) A brand new theatre company! This show was incredible and I am so grateful for being asked to take photos during their dress run. Good luck for the future guys, I’m excited to see what’s in store! Sherbet Lemon Theatre. Katie Sired. Available from https://www.facebook.com/KSIREDPHOTOGRAPHY/ [accessed 21 May 2018].
Spotify Technology SA (2018) Spotify [software]. Spotify Technology SA. Available from https://www.spotify.com/uk/ [accessed 17 March 2018].
