DU PRISON ARTS INITIATIVE
LIGHTING DESIGN MENTOR and CONSULTANT
IF LIGHT CLOSED ITS EYES
CURRENT PROJECT:
Dr. Ashley Hamilton’s most ambitious project yet is our current project, If Light Closed Its Eyes, a verbatim documentary play, created from hundreds interviews, exploring the criminal justice system and shared humanity. The production involves over 60 incarcerated artists and is performed in living unit 4 (cell house) at Sterling Correctional Facility. The show runs for three weeks and is open to the public, to families of incarcerated artists, and to the general population of the facility.
The If Light Closed Its Eyes lighting plan included bringing in an ETC Ion Light Board, ETC and Altman LED fixtures, three followspots and a variety of conventional fixtures. Because of the large scale of the living unit, I incorporated three followspots and trained three men to run them. This allowed the scenes to feel highly focused and for us to use the rest of our inventory for mood, color, texture, and compositional needs. I also trained our main lighting designer, Mannie Legrand, to program the Ion Light Board and I collaborated closely with Tim Nichols, our master electrician, to solve the numerous challenges of power and distribution in that unique space.