Review by Choice Review
This is an impressive and exhaustive study of the lighting of Tudor/Stuart dramas of the English Renaissance. Graves first describes the types and uses of lighting equipment available to the stage practitioners of this era--tapers, cressets, lanterns, and torches. He then speculates on the amount of available natural light, considering the orientation of indoor and outdoor playhouses to the sun, the angle of sunlight at various times of the day and in different seasons, roof shadows, the size and shapes of windows, and known performance times. Graves next turns his attention to the description and placement of artificial lights in the indoor playhouses and at royal court performances, suggesting their potential in creating dramatic effect. Finally, he describes the use of numerous special effects, including suns, moons, comets, and lighting. Graves effectively combines research into historic accounts, bills, and records; textual information from the plays; recent archaeological findings at the Rose and Globe Playhouses; and his own calculations of solar angles--developing a persuasive case for period lighting practices. He even conducted several experiments at the restored Globe to test some of his ideas. For graduate, research, faculty, and professional theater collections. R. A. Naversen; Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
