Description

We're sorry, but this class is over. The last meeting was Friday, November 21, 2025.

Workshop Description
The Lighting Designer works with all members of the production team, particularly the Director, other Designers and Lighting Technicians. They conceptualize and design the look and feel of the lighting and play a crucial role in supporting the storytelling visually. School subjects that intersect with the role of the lighting designer include Drama and Theatre Studies, Art and Design, Electronics, Physics, Photography, Media Studies and Music. Lighting Design for the stage is a discipline that straddles technical know-how and creativity, and may be the ideal field for the student who loves the theatre but isn’t sure they want to be a performer. Imagination lies at the heart of lighting, and the lighting designer stands to contribute greatly to both the visual and the emotional impact of the production. Attributes that lend themselves to success as a lighting designer include technical knowledge and practical programming skills, the ability to work under pressure to tight deadlines, excellent communication skills, creativity, theatre knowledge and musicality.

This workshop will cover stage lighting basics including optics and photometrics, types of lighting instruments & systems and simple color theory. The instructor will also present a method of practice that students can apply immediately to their own work, whether lighting shows at school or in the community. Learners may practice focusing lights, directing the focus, and translating verbal prompts into practical lighting application, all while learning some of the basics of programming on an ETC Eos family lighting console.

Instructor Biography
Charlie Beaver is a British-Canadian theatre artist with a sunny, west-coast outlook. DESIGN: Upcoming – Godspell, Chemainus Theatre Festival; Macbeth, Arts Umbrella 2026. Recent: Metamorphoses, Set/Technical Direction, United Players 2025; Seesaw, The Forests Wild, set/props, Arts Umbrella 2025; Reflections on Crooked Walking, set/props, Firehall Arts Centre 2023; King Lear, lights/projections, Promethean Theatre 2021. TECH: Theatre Operations Support, Arts Umbrella 2024–, ATD/Head Technician, Firehall Arts Centre 2021-2024. Charlie is a graduate of Studio 58’s Production Program.

Discipline Code:

TMF.TH

Location

Studio 311 - Scene Shop at Granville Island, 1400 Johnston St
Studio 310 at Granville Island, 1400 Johnston St

Instructor

Charlie Beaver