These standards of the governing bodies in Ancient Greece can be defined by who has the final say in a society. For instance, a democracy was the standard where decisions are made by the people (specifically the men). Alternatively, an oligarchy was the standard where a specific selection of individuals are granted control over the decisions made. By extension, a monarchy was the standard where an individual fell heir to the leadership over the land, by divine right. Finally, the standard of tyranny in Ancient Greece was where an individual gained control over decisions made, without a grant and outside the boundaries of the law.

William Shakespeare's father: John Shakespeare, was a well-established, local politician and merchant within Stratford-upon-Avon. It is likely that this connection had some influence on Shakepeare’s literacy.

In the 1980s, when our production of the play will be set, a significant moment in Greek history is the turn of politics. The rise in power of the Greek conservative party - with Constantine Karamanlis commencing his term as president of Greece in 1980 was shortly interrupted a year later with the election of Andreas Papandreaus, the prime minister at the time. The conflict of ideologies between the two men in power caused a dispute among the civilians of the country, since Papandreaus campaigned to take powers and responsibilities from Karamanlis.

Explained by Sukanta Chaudhuri (Edmondson, 2021) - as seen in the transcript extract above - the social dynamics are depicted in specified forms of character: upper class, artisans and fairies. It could be said that these are comparable with our social classes of upper-class, middle-class and lower-class. One perspective is that Shakespeare wrote each group to oppose, desire for, and forgive each other. This may have reflected how he saw society.

The way the economy in Greece during the 17^th Century influenced Shakespeare was by depicting the social hierarchies, marital arrangements and authoritative decisions made by those in power. These ideologies at the time would be the developments of the characters. An example of this would be the social difference between the characters Oberon and Lysander. Though mischievous in his quest to bewitch his wife infatuated by the first creature scene, Oberon is seen by the other fairies as a king. The emphasis this brings upon Oberon as a character is that he, not only of royal stature, is a fairy, a supernatural creature of the forest whose abilities in witchcraft is explored throughout the play. The inspiration for Oberon could have been drawn from the reigning monarch at the time, James VI and I.

In hindsight, the way this economic factor influenced my technical decisions for our production was by depicting the regalities of the characters Theseus and Hippolyta, to whom the palace of Athens is a home, not a privilege. Likewise, I wished to show the forest as a place of mystery and chaos. However, when Oberon and Titania were present, I wanted to adapt the look of the forest to further its simplicities, as everything is in order whilst the King and Queen of the Fairies were present. It was only whilst they were away when the chaos ensued, predominantly due to Puck's actions affecting the love and spite between Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius.

It was also important that I discussed with the director and understood the significance of using two locations for the show. The use of the lecture theatre for the Athens scene at the start meant that I was only able to use a rig with minimal lighting but then had a larger variety of options as the production moved into the in-house theatre. This meant that I had to ensure that the lighting designs were appropriate for both locations. Upon reflection, it was a brilliant concept of using the lecture theatre for the simplistic look of Athens, and the in-house theatre for the forest as it meant that we were able to install set that otherwise wouldn't have been practical to have as part of a scene change.

An upside to this decision I had noticed - without requiring discussion with the director - is that the audience may encounter the performance from a much more immersive point of view. This is because they will be journeying from Athens (the lecture theatre) to the forest (the main theatre) themselves, rather than having the performance change location while the audience remain seated in the main theatre.

The space in the Lecture theatre was smaller, and with the audience standing, and no technical booth, the working space was very constrained.

Having mentioned this, I am also aware of the fact that I have the remainder of the space to work with - for the benefit of the audience as they come in from the lecture theatre. Similar to the set concerns, I had conversations with the director and stage manager of our production, to discover ways I can overcome this, and ensure the lighting design was appropriate for each space.

I had approached Gantt charts in the format they appear in Microsoft Excel. It is primarily used for spreadsheet modifications and crafting charts.

In the midst of this project, I have gotten used to formatting an effective Gantt chart and have taken the liberty of gaining more knowledge in the field of plan-building and Gannt charts as a whole. Therefore, in future preparations, I will know that Gantt charts are a viable option for me to accomplish tasks effectively - throughout the process of a project.

I also found that using a Gantt chart was helpful to give me a quick overall view of the order that things needed to be done, and roughly how long each element might take.

Once I learnt about the audience moving from the lecture theatre to our main in-house theatre, I had discarded some of my ideas, as I thought them to be too impractical , and moved on to different ideas, which I had been prepared for, with backup lighting ideas. By the fifth week, I had organised these ideas into a cue sheet and programmed these ideas into the lighting desk, using the iOS software.

For each of the production meetings, all members of the production team were called in to discuss their progress throughout the development of the production.

These meetings were conducted on a weekly basis, although the Technical Director had other projects with the other students to prioritise. The result of this was a member of staff in the production arts was brought in to cover the meetings in his absence. During these meetings, we were asked individually to discuss our progress with the group. As a result of one of these meetings, it was brought to my attention that the first-year students had organised a shared online calendar. This proved beneficial for us - likewise - as we could all be updated with each other's plans and how to prioritise activities between us as a collective. In addition, we were provided with rehearsal notes from our stage manager, which described in brief sentences what our next priorities were to be.

I began by creating a table containing five columns in Microsoft Word with the headings of cue numbers, cue names, page numbers, notes, times in, and times out respectively. After I had done so, I had filled in the cues with my lighting designs and where I intend for them to come in, discussing with the director before finalising them.

The benefit of doing this, helps to clearly understand the sequencing required for the show, and it gives a reference guide for anyone to follow.

Since I was not responsible for placing the order and arranging collection, I was reliant on a staff member to do so.

The risk with online shopping was that there was a possibility that the items may not be delivered within the required timeframe. However, when placing the order, I made sure to check the expected delivery date was well in advance of the date the item was required. I also made sure to remind the staff member in charge of placing the orders of these dates, so he was knowledgeable of them.

There are resources for benefitting people's understanding of the Shakespearean dialect both in an analogue and a digital format.

I accessed some of these resources to help my own understanding, and I watched a couple of different productions which helped with the overall understanding of the messages within.

Throughout the rest of the rehearsal, I borrowed a MacBook and went onto the downloaded Eos software to begin programming the cues. What I had not considered was that using this particular software on a MacBook is drastically different from simply using the ETC ion lighting desk. There are many workarounds on the Eos software to fix the problem, but I was not aware of these initially. I learned more about these from another student technician who had dealt with a similar situation on a previous project.

Using these work arounds, I was able to learn how to use the software better and ensure that the programming on the cues were accurate and effective.

I inquired with the director and we discussed potential ideas, focusing in on one scene at a time. In total, we were able to review three scenes.This approach benefited me, as it allowed me to drill down my ideas into sole outcomes. The scenes we looked over were Act One Scene Two, Act Two Scene One, and Act Four Scene Act Three Scene Two. These scenes in particular were beneficial to me, as they all focused on different characters, and were all in different settings. By the end of the session, I had come up with five ideas of the three I set out to achieve in that session.

During this week, I progressed with my lighting design - through this method of scrutinising scenes for what they are worth and building designs from those - and gathered two more ideas for lighting states.

Shakespeare is well-regarded, and considered to be one of the greatest writers of the English language, and his plays have had impacts for centuries to follow. Shakepeare's works are studied and analysed in almost every theatre around the country. Therefore, one of the benefits for both the actors and technical team is that we all have a greater understanding of who he was, why he wrote plays the way he wrote them, the language he used, and these will be valuable if we continue in the performing arts industry.

With our production roles in place, and the production we were going to be focusing on for the next ten weeks, we were raring to go. My first thoughts after being told this were to look over previous performances of the show, and look over their interpretations. Out of hours, I had watched a National Theatre production of A Midsummer Night's Dream from the Summer of 2019, which gave me a better understanding of the play, and what the characters represent in society. This also helped me to understand the language a little better too.

During the first rehearsal, there were no comments made specifically about the lighting, beyond what had been discussed before, since it would have been - and was - further beneficial at this point in the process further beneficial to know what costume would be needed for the actors involved and what the set is going to look like. Programmed lighting cues did not need to be ordered from an external source, so it was not so much of a priority.

During the second rehearsal, there was a suggestion that it might be beneficial to make use of a touring rig. It was agreed between both myself, the director and the stage manager to discuss this further next week.

The director had communicated her initial ideas, generally about the production, which were relayed by the stage manager in an email. However, this did not include any specific ideas about lighting, so I assumed full creative freedom by the end of this week. Upon reflection, I could have gone to the rehearsal, and checked in with the director to ensure what I was doing was aligned with my designs, as well as her vision of the show's aesthetic and how to accomplish that.

There were two rehearsals this week, and - from each of these rehearsals - there were no particular comments or requests communicated to adjust lighting or new lighting ideas. This was the result of my forgetting to address my current ideas and designs to the director. If I had done so at this point in the production process, I believe that, though successful in immersing the audience, it would have made the impact of this immersion much more significant. Despite this, I made good use of my time, ensuring that I had communicated with the set designer how each of our signs of progress were, and how we could help each other in making the most of our respective fields when the show came to pass.

It is helpful to see how the rehearsals progress as it helps me understand what lighting requirements might be needed, where the actors may be positioned and how some of the props would be used, which could impact my lighting designs.

I found the information from these sources easier the comprehend and to retain whilst programming lights and alterations to my lighting states on the Eos software, available on the MacBooks.

On Friday, I opened a Macbook, hoping to access my Eos file and update it with new cues. Unfortunately, I was only able to open the Eos software on the MacBook I had loaned. After realising this, I was relieved to find out that I had photographed the code number, in preparation for such a case. I then went to the office to retrieve the MacBook I had needed, and there was no staff available to sign it out from the office, so it dawned upon me that I needed to wait for ten minutes or so, without being able to do anything other than noting down the specific setbacks of the week, for writing up into the portfolio at the end of the week. After such time, I went back to the office, and retrieved the MacBook, handing the other one back in substitution. To ensure this did not happen again, I saved the file onto the memory stick, and labelled the memory stick, so I could identify it from the others.

The beneficial repercussions of this were that I could continue with the rest of my work without concerning myself over the potential that my work would be produced for nothing.

The setbacks/downsides of this week were that they were not altered to be timely and precise to when they should have happened. I made time this week to get this done.

I planned to discuss the programmed lighting states with the director and get as much feedback from them as I can. This way, if the director wanted any changes to be made, I could have altered the programming for the cues ahead of time and carried on with the next priorities.

I ended up discussing with the director in her session, and we discussed the blocking and how it would impact the lights I had planned thereafter.

Upon reflection, I was very effective and efficient in achieving my goals for the week, as I had done so, and in good time.

One problem that I did come across whilst doing this was seeing an out of place strobe from an LED par can. I had not remembered programming into Eos a strobe effect on any of the lights, let alone a sole LED par can at the end of the rig. Assuming it may be the fixture itself not functioning properly, I went through the rest of the cues and carefully examined whether or not there were any more of these mishaps within the show file. I came across it in one other changeover, though it did not happen again after this second time. I had the idea to go to the "effects" tab on Eos and check that there were no effects active on the lights, and, sure enough, there were not. The reason why these strobes had occurred was that...

In total, we had three runs of the show on Wednesday. One, to get me used to the new QLab file for the lecture theatre;another, as a matinee performance for other performing arts students; and an evening performance, for which friends and family of the cast and crew came to see. Over the course of these three runs, there were little to no mistakes made, technically. In the final performance, there were no mistakes made by the technicians working on the show.

To accomplish this chase sequence, I needed to programme the states of the LEDs as individual cues and - essentially make a stop-motion-type movement into a loop group.

In further detail, the two distinctive colours are magenta and green, which are in themselves contrasting, in at least two ways. Firstly, green is a primary colour of light, whereas magenta is a secondary colour of light. Additionally, I noticed that green and magenta are polar opposites on the colour wheel, which makes them complimentary to one another.

I have used two distinct colours in this particular chase: purple and green. The reason for my decision in their distinctive colours is that these particular colours are complimentary colours, meaning that they oppose each other on the colour wheel.

It was my intention to use green within this chase, as it is often associated with nature and life outside of urban grounds. The impact this will have on the audience is that I am hoping they will notice and make the connection that they will be going in the direction of the woods.

Furthermore, I knew - from consistent and repetitive revision of the colour wheel - that purple and pink were the two colours polar opposite to green, and will be aesthetically pleasing with one another, not to mention the regal connotation of the colour purple - since it once was a particularly rare dye to come about, royalty were one of the few standards within the hierarchy who had the wealth and power to ascertain it.

The ultimate goal of this chase is to transition the audience's immersion from the Athenian Palace to the mystery and chaos that the Woods setting will bring thereafter.

One example of a point of conflict happened early on during this project, when not all the actors were happy with the possibility of performing a Shakespearean play. To make the situation easier, the director assumed a vote between everyone involved, so as to make the outcome a fair one. As a result of this, the voted concluded with a vast majority in favour of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The vote affected my decisions in lighting design, as I needed to lose half of my design ideas, as these would no longer be relevant for this show.

However, once a clear decision had been made, it ensured my design idea could now be shaped around this specific show, making good use of my time.

Moreover, there was a moment in the final performance when one of the actors had caught a roller-skating boot in the camouflage netting onstage and subsequently fell over. The repercussions of this were that the actor removed the boot and left it at the side of the stage, though still visible. To progress from this, we needed to send somebody to cut it out of the netting, and tuck away the loose camo netting so it would not be any more of a trip hazard for the foreseeable scenes of the play.

A suggestion that had been brought up by our costume designer was to put in a blue out cue by the end of the scene, so the audience would know that it had come to an end, and so whoever was going to go down to the performance space would have a window of time to get it sorted. This was quickly disregarded, as a staff member explained that this suggestion might seem out of place and confuse the actors, therefore, potentially introducing more problems for them, as it would distract them from their cues.

In the end, the Technical Director made it out of the tech booth and cut the roller skate out of the netting as discretely as possible. An audience member commented afterwards that the incident had not impacted their enjoyment of the performance.

This forced myself and the sound technician to focus on the stage and each other to get visual cues, so we could make an educated guess regarding when to proceed to the next cue. This was because it meant that the "clearance" cue we needed to hear from the costume designer was being communicated through a faulty means, and we could not register it as a clearance cue.

As a result of this, we made sure to inform any others on comms that we couldn’t get any communication from the costume designer.

The lighting cues were successful and this headset failure didn't significantly impact the performace.

My previous knowledge was good on how to programme directly on the lighting desk, but as part of this project I have now also learnt how to do this using a Macbook. This will be a valuable skill for the future.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

From this performance, I learnt the friendship between Puck and Oberon was constantly changing. One moment, Puck is compliant with Oberon. The next, Oberon is scolding Puck for conducting such chaos and orders him to reverse the spells. The knowledge of this influenced my lighting, as I tried to make the lighting states for Puck and Oberon's scenes similar to one another, yet not exactly the same. I wanted to visually conceptualise the journey that Puck and Oberon go on.

Whilst I was inspired by the National Theatre production, I was careful not to simply copy what they had done. I used this to influence my own creative designs.

This resouce gave me an insight into how characters spoke in Shakespeare's play and what that meant for the structure and pace of the scene.

It surprised me to learn that characters with different social status used different language forms, i.e. royalty used free verse whilst supernatural characters like witches and fairies used rhyming verse.

This gave me the ability to understand colours in lighting, and a reference point for which colours they were.

It has given me the opportunity to build a broader outlook on lighting design, since this was a show type that I had not been involved in previously

I've also not had opportunity to work on a show that has two different locations, which enabled me to design two separate lighting designs one for each space being used.

The format of the lighting in each space was different; therefore, as part of my design, I had to take this into consideration and take alternative routes to light the lecture theatre.

This video was not specific for A Midsummer Night's Dream, but gave me good strategies that I could use for any of Shakespeare's plays.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8zWj10-IKk

Edmondson, P. (2021). "Sukanta Chadhuri On 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' - in India." Shakespeare Alive. [Podcast], Available at ones, J. (2023). "Exploring History." The History Podcast. [Podcast], Available at https://open.spotify.com/episode/3FX2qLxnEvO793SRGqTbnN?si=171441086da4418f