Theatrical Lighting of The 19th Century
The 19th century was a period of great technological innovation, especially in the realm of theatrical lighting. Over the course of the century, stage lighting evolved through a series of improvements starting at gas light, then shifting to limelight, and, finally, landed upon electric light. Theatre has been constantly evolving, but no period saw as much of a technological surge as did the 19th century. Prior to the surge of technological improvements of the 19th century, theatres relied on a different means of illumination. Early theatrical performances were held outside and were lit by the sun (Funk and Wagnalls “Theater Production”). Because of limitations in illumination, theatre performances had to be held at specific times of the day. As different instruments for lighting emerged, this restriction disappeared. When theatre shifted indoors, the need for lighting instruments developed (Funk and Wagnalls “Theater Production”).
The first controllable light source for the theatre was candlelight. The Italian renaissance is known as the “cradle stage of lighting” (Fraser 7). It was a period of high innovation and exploration. Sabatini used candles and oil lamps during the Italian Renaissance to help emphasize the use of perspective and hoped to make the illusion of depth onstage more realistic (Grange). With this newfound realism came some necessary changes to theatre designs. It was during this time that the theatre developed proscenium arches and rapid scene changes became popular (Grange). Because of the limited technical ability of lighting at this time, theatre makers had to get creative to create special effects. Bowls of colored water were used as what we refer to today as gel. The bowls were placed in front of oil lamps to create a colored light effect (Fraser 8). Theatrical lighting typically serves three main purposes: to illuminate the stage, create the mood, and to control focus.
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Changing the color of the lighting would have helped to create the mood of the show. Prior to the 19th century, not much could be done to control focus because lights could not be easily controlled. As far as illumination goes, the stage would have been pretty dim relative to what we see today. “By current standards the stage was fairly dim, which allowed greater illusionism in scenic painting” (Funk and Wagnalls “Theater Production”). This was because candles and oil lamps could not produce that much light and lighting positions were limited. It wasn’t until the 19th century shift to more controllable lighting that theatres could achieve a more significant amount of illumination and could begin controlling focus. The 19th century was a time of great theatrical innovation. It was during this century that lighting technology evolved more rapidly than any other period in history.
The century began with candles and oil lamps as the main sort of theatrical illumination, but this quickly shifted into more sophisticated technologies (Held 8). Despite the significant changes in lighting technology of the 19th century, in general the period has not been thought of as a particularly reformative period in theatre history. According to Booth, “the nineteenth century has not generally been regarded as a period of theatrical experiment and innovation, but it was, and struggling underneath the apparent tyranny of conformity and convention was the rebellious spirit of reform” (3). In the 1800s, theatre as a whole was not very realistic. Theatre of the 19th century typically strove to be symbolic rather than realistic (Booth 2). During this period, set design and costume design were not very detailed or accurate. According to Booth, scenery was painted two dimensionally on pieces of wood that moved in full view of the audience (2). Costuming at this time was inconsistent.
It was sometimes vaguely period, sometimes exaggerated for comedic effect, sometimes traditional or contemporary (Booth 2). There was not a set standard for theatrics. In the early 19th century, acting was also very stylized and often larger than life (Booth 2). It wasn’t until around 1890 that theatre shifted into realism. By 1890, quality realistic drama emerged and drew more intellectual theatregoers to return to the theatre (Booth 3-4). This realistic drama became possible when staging and costuming became more realistic and lighting design followed suit. With the invention of gas lighting, more control over the lights was available. With gas light came the ability to control the quality and direction of light (Fraser 13). According to one news source, “the major advantage of gas-lighting lies in the fact that the lights can be dimmed by reducing the amount of gas, or brightened by increasing the pressure – something impossible with candlelight, and something achieved only to a limited extent with oil lamps” (“Theatres Compete in Race”).
The first time gaslight was used was by a theatre in London, however the theatre was a bit ahead of its time. In 1803 the Lyseum theatre in London became the 1st theatre to use gaslight, but gaslight was not immediately adopted elsewhere (Held 8). The Lyseum Theatre incorporated gaslight, but was not completely gaslit. It wasn’t for 14 more years that the first theatre would be completely gaslit. In 1817 Drury Lane Theatre was the 1st to be completely gaslit (Fraser 13). It took another 26 years for gas light to dominate. And in 1843, all London theatres had been effectively converted to using gaslight (Fraser 13). In 1878 the Lyceum Theatre was reconstructed. At the time of its reconstruction, special care was taken to bring up to date lighting instruments and systems to the theatre. The lighting options at this time were gas and limelight. Typically, lime lights used as spotlights because they were moveable and gas lighting was used for everything else (Jackson 186). Limelight was invented in 1826 (Fraser 13). Thomas Drummond invented the limelight after sitting through a chemistry class (Held 15).
Limelight created light through the chemical reaction of oxygen and hydrogen burning on a block of lime. It was the 1st bright light source and provided the first directional spotlight (Fraser 13). Lime lights proved to be a very bright source of light. According to Jackson, the light was so strong that it was easily adapted into a localized light source such as a spotlight (Jackson 189). And so, limelight became popular in use for spotlights, a feat that had not been previously possible. In 1855 a lens was first placed in front of a limelight and was used as an early version of the follow spot (Fraser 13). Because limelight was so bright and so easily localized, it was adapted for nontheatrical uses as well. Drummond also adapted his limelight to be used in lighthouses (Held 16). Limelight was portable as well. So called limelight men would carry tanks of oxygen and hydrogen on their backs and were mobile enough to spotlight anywhere (Held 37).
The limeblocks used were typically small, about the size of a wine cork (Held 43). Being able to move anywhere increased the possibilities of theatrical lighting. Because limelight had so many unique uses, it remained a popular light source for a long time. According to Held, limelight was still in use after the popularization of incandescent electric light by Thomas Edison in 1879 (41). Electricity would eventually change the way theatrical lighting was approached, but the path to this success was a long one. According to Booth, “the brightness and sharpness of detail made possible by these lighting improvements assisted the growth of an intimate and natural acting style well suited to the quieter domesticity, more restrained writing, and subtler character portrayal of serious and comic drama alike” (32). These drastic changes in lighting were not seen until the end of the 19th century. The journey from gas and lime light was a long one.
The earliest experiments in electric lighting were conducted by Sir Humphry Davy, a British Chemist. He produced electric arcs and made a fine platinum wire incandescent in air by passing a current through it (Funk and Wagnalls “Electric Lighting”). While the first lighting powered by electricity emerged at the beginning of the 19th century, it wouldn’t become popular until the very end of the century. According to Held, the electric arc light was first developed in 1808, but didn’t come into general use until after 1880 (10). By 1840 a number of incandescent lamps were patented but none were commercially successful (Funk and Wagnalls “Electric Lighting”). A few theatres at this time decided to experiment with electricity, but to no avail. In 1846 electricity was first used to create light at the Paris Opera. It was used as a spotlight, however it was very noisy and flickered and so limelight continued to dominate (Fraser 13).
More than 10 years after the Paris Opera attempted to use electric lights, electricity was still not widespread. Electricity was beginning to expand, but it was often too expensive for people to afford and many improvements would need to be made before it was widely adopted as a lighting source (Held 22). This issue would eventually be solved by Thomas Edison. In 1879 Thomas Edison produced his carbon filament lamp and first demonstrated it publicly (Funk and Wagnalls “Electric Lighting”). Edison knew that in order for the incandescent bulb to replace the gas lamp, a cheap and reliable power source had to be created (Crepeau). In the late 19th century there were two power options: inefficient generators and heavy, expensive batteries (Crepeau). Sir Humphry Davy’s system used a voltaic battery of two thousand cells to provide current for his arc light (Held 10). It consisted of two carbon rods connected to a large battery tterminal.
When the tips of the carbon rods, or “carbons”, were touched together an electric current began to flow. When separated, the current would “arc” across the gap and create a light (Held 10). Davy’s method was inefficient and so Edison’s team developed a generator that more than doubled the efficiency of existing technology (Crepeau). With Edison’s new technology, lighting became more reliable and consistent. After Edison’s improvements, electric lighting was silent and didn’t flicker (Fraser 13). American theatres typically were a few years ahead of European theatres when it came to new lighting technologies. In 1879 the 1st American theatre was lit by electric light, the California Theatre in San Francisco. It used 1,158 lamps (Fraser 13). Two years later in 1881, The Savoy was the first English theatre to be completely lit by electricity (Booth 32).
Further lighting improvements awaited the turn of the 20th century. It wasn’t until 1907 that tungsten filaments were substituted for carbon filaments in incandescent lamps (Funk and Wagnalls “Electric Lighting”). It would be another 6 years before gas filled incandescent lamps were developed in 1913 (Funk and Wagnalls “Electric Lighting”). Gas lighting presented some major safety issues and so special care had to be taken when implementing and operating gas lighting systems. One such precaution was having two gas supplies instead of one. This ensured that in the event of an explosion it would be possible to minimize the risk of a complete blackout.
Because the stage and house were run from different gas supplies, if one exploded the other would likely stay lit (Jackson 186). By keeping part of the theatre lit at all times, dangerous situations could be made more manageable. With still being able to see in the event of an emergency, audience members and company members would be able to safely exit the building. With gas lighting systems came a great risk of fire. In the Lyceum Theatre, many men were employed to keep watch of the lighting systems and to turn it off and on as necessary (Jackson 187). This was an attempt to minimize the potential for fire. Each “gasman” would carry a “spirit torch” and they were only allowed to strike matches in designated areas (Jackson 187).
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