The important thing to be remembered about the lighting is the crescendo
of light which occurs as the play runs its course. First the dim little
hut so lit by the firelight, that the expressions on the faces of the
actors can just be seen without straining the eyes of the audience. Then
the rich but subdued lighting of the chancel and finally the brilliant
radiance shining on the angel.
Experiments with electricity should not be attempted by persons who do
not understand its use, but if there is a competent electrician in the
group putting on the play, use electric lighting by all means. No other
form of light is so easily controlled or begins to give such effects for
stage purposes.
The problems of theater lighting differ with each set of conditions and
the best results can only be obtained by actual experiment with the
means at hand. Do not feel that because you are an amateur, working with
limited equipment, real beauty is beyond you. I have seen a stage
picture approaching a Rembrandt in its charm of coloring and skilful use
of shadows, created on a tiny stage with few appliances by an amateur
who understood his lights.
If electricity is to be had, use three or four incandescent globes for
the fire on the hearth, arranging logs of wood around them to simulate a
fire. Additional lights as needed can be placed at the side off stage,
or in the footlights; or better, if the stage has a real proscenium
these supplementary lights can be put in a "trough" that protects and
intensifies them and hung overhead in the center against the back of the
proscenium arch.
As all these lights are to give a firelight effect, the incandescent
globes should be dipped in a rich amber shade of coloring medium which
may be bought at any electrical supply house for sixty cents per half
pint. If gas or oil is used a firelight effect can be obtained by
slipping amber gelatine screens in front of the lamps. These "gelatines"
are about two feet square and cost only ten cents apiece.
If the fire-place cannot be made, then a charcoal brazier will serve as
an excuse for light and give a sense of warmth to the scene. The brazier
can easily be made by any tinsmith from a piece of sheet iron supported
on three legs, and there is an illustration of it in the right hand
corner of the accompanying scenery plate.--An electric torch or even an
ordinary lantern can be slipped inside the little stove to give out a
faint glow. A piece of one of the amber screens put over the torch or
lantern will warm the light and the brazier can be placed anywhere in
the hut.
The chancel may be lighted by a number of incandescent bulbs hidden at
the sides of the scene, with the light so shielded that it shines on the
altar and not into the hut. An especially effective place to put a
strong light is inside the box representing the altar, with a hole cut
in the top of the box so that the light shines up, giving a central
radiance to the appointments of the altar and throwing into prominence
the face and costume of each person who approaches it. If any of this
light seems glaring it can be softened and diffused by masking it with
amber or straw colored cheesecloth.
Some form of search light is practically a necessity for producing the
heavenly radiance that shines upon the angel. If procurable, a "baby
spot light" is the best appliance, but lacking this, an automobile lamp
and its battery can be used.
It is important that all light in the hut should go out when the vision
of the chancel appears so that the hut becomes merely an inner
proscenium or dark frame around the rich picture of the altar. This of
course does not mean that the lantern in the brazier need be
extinguished as the light given by that is negligible.
After the angel ceases speaking the tableau of the altar scene should be
held as the music grows louder and louder through the final crescendo;
then, when the final note has been sung, blot out the stage by
extinguishing all lights. Give a moment of darkness during which the
back wall of the hut is replaced, and the old woman slips out of the
nearest opening in the scenery. Then turn on the front lights which
illuminated the hut during the first part of the play.