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Lighting Design |
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We are very grateful that Anne Militello has generously allowed us to reproduce her photographs of Fornes productions. 'To me, Irene Fornes is one of the greatest visual artists in the theatre today, as well as being one of the greatest playwrights. She is an expert on visual language. She knows exactly how to integrate all the design elements so that her plays can exist in a perfect space. My work with Irene began soon after I moved to New York in 1980. I designed thirteen productions for her and I consider that work to be the most inspired of my theatre career. From her, I learned how to extract and express emotion with lighting. She always encouraged me to go further, darker, dimmer using focus and respecting every visible detail. She taught me that simple images, such as a figure as a black silhouette speaking against a dim background, or a half-lit face in the distance can add serious emotional depth. The subtle shift of a single shadow in conjunction with precise timing by an actor could create intense beauty. Her timing is exquisite. My ideas expand greatly every time I work with her. When she directs, she choreographs every movement of the actors and the light together with focused precision. Somehow, she gets the actors to respond to the movement of light, and every night, they remember and use it for great effect. I've never seen any other director be able to achieve such support from a cast. I am constantly in awe of her generosity and wisdom as a teacher. We have had to defend ourselves to several production managers to convince them why we need another day of tech time in the beginning of rehearsals. There have been arguments, but she has always made converts after a brief drop-in to our rehearsals by those same people. Sometimes, at the beginning of tech rehearsals, the uninitiated actor is puzzled why an inch of movement or scenery placement could be that important until they see and feel the difference. Her results are breathtaking. My work with her has influenced all of my subsequent designs. I feel extremely lucky to know her.' Anne Militello in Conducting a Life: Reflections on the Theatre of Maria Irene Fornes, pp.106-107. Our thanks to Anne Militello, the editors, and Smith and Kraus Publishers for their kind permission to use this. See Publications. |
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Anne Militello studied theatre at the University of Buffalo and lighting design at New York's State University. She met Sam Shepard and subsequently worked on lighting designs for his plays' New York productions. She has also worked in Off-Off Broadway venues. She has created many lighting designs for Fornes including Abingdon Square, A Matter of Faith, The Conduct of Life, The Danube, Enter The Night, Lovers and Keepers, Sarita, Mud, plus Fornes' direction of Hedda Gabler and Uncle Vanya. The Village Voice awarded her an Obie in 1984 for Sustained Excellence in Lighting Design.