blackbird
by David Harrower
new york university
Director: Maria Palomar
Lighting Designer: Nina Attinello
Scenic Designer: Alex Hardin
Costume Designer: Carla Posada
For this live production of David Harrower’s disturbing drama I used light intensity and shifting white color temperature to explore themes of revelation and memory.
Subtle shifts of color transformed the playing space. Cold and concentrated white light evoked a medical exam table. Dirty amber hues conjured a coastal motel room.
Intensity of light signified Una’s power to expose Ray’s history of abuse to his colleagues and family, culminating in a blinding final scene.
drafting & instrumentation
To create a palette of warm and cold white light I customized fluorescent fixtures using LED tape and dimmable LED fluorescents.
The LED tape was hidden within the fixture housing and circuited through a dmx decoder into the light board. This allowed the bulk of the lighting shifts to occur within the confines of the set, emanating from the in-world architecture, rather than external to the world--ie, from a theatrical grid--thereby endowing the space with heightened dramatic power and allowing for slow transitions that moved imperceptibly with the emotional beats of the story.
Drafting created using Vectorworks.
reference images