Lights, Camera, Action...Nadia Roxburgh: The Technical Artist

Published August 26, 2012
The Sunday Gleaner

Sitting in a dimly lit cubicle, Nadia Roxburgh's fingers moved in clockwork rhythm on the console, her gaze fixed to the stage, where she disperses the light at the flick of a button.

"The stage is the canvas and lighting console the palette," Roxburgh said with a smile. "Lighting up the stage is painting colours, only that we have light to fill the space."

The lighting technician at the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts at the University of the West Indies says that she needs a creative eye to create the right tone and mood on the set. "Otherwise, it will be bland."

The confluence of lighted space on the stage reflects the mood of the show being performed and the lighting engineer has to, like an inspired painter swishing brushstrokes on canvas, create the right hue.

Roxburgh's current project, Mr and Mrs Blacke - a story of a wealthy couple whose marriage is on the rocks, has elements of intense emotions.

"I used monochrome palette for this project," Roxburgh informed, as the arc lights lit up the all-white props on the stage. "The lights went from white to lavender and their different shades so that the stage doesn't look flat."

She loves dabbling with colours more. "We use colour a lot, depending on the show that is being performed, colour adds character and intensity to the production," Roxburgh informed, recalling that one of her favourite production was L'Acadco's 'Ships Log', which showcased the diversity of dance.

The lighting engineer, who did her masters in theatre practices at Rose Bruford College, Kent, University of Manchester in England, says that the right lighting is as important as the props and the costumes. "Lights highlight expression and help in telling the story."

Roxburgh loves what she does, though she says the work becomes challenging because of the tight timelines given to complete the job.

"I would love more downtime for any project," she said. "Sometimes its two to three days of notice, which makes the planning process hectic, but we have to make use of the best of it."

"The work here is very practical," she recounted, in comparison to her experiences in the United Kingdom. "Whatever we learnt was through trial and error, one has to be creative to get work done, and work around the roadblocks."

Getting the optimum from the resources at hand, Roxburgh said that the process from planning to execution is physically demanding. "A normal rigging day is usually from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. This involves setting up of the lights, getting the right angle and focus and then programming the sequence of the lights for the show.

"This process has to be complete before the first technical rehearsal," she informed. "It is 40 per cent planning and 60 per cent execution time."

But at the end of the day, sitting in her quiet, dimly lit workroom, the gratification abounds when a production wins accolades from the audience.

Though Roxburgh and her team are one of the critical backbones of theatre production, and though they are solely responsible for putting people in the limelight; it is something she shies away from.

"For me, the best compliment for my work is when people enjoy the show and not the lights," Roxburgh says coyly.

amitabh.sharma@gleanerjm.com