Bend It, Like In Light Refraction

            To be quite honest, I can be very critical of musicals. As a performer, I’ve only been in one musical, so my knowledge about the process creative for an actor is somewhat limited. Although as a member I have seen many, from The Producers to Wicked. Basically I have been spoiled with films, and commercial theatre. For me to see a musical, I have to be in the mood or familiar with the writer, music, or plot. I still appreciate the passion and will power artists put into a production. I I love seeing the Lighting of Musical. The Production of Bend It Like Beckham had some good thing and amateur aspects to it. The pieces design was very out-of-the-box and the Lighting was the highlight of the production.  I could tell that a new theatre director undertook this play and it turned out it was. The director, Gurinder Chadha, was the writer and director of the original film. Apparently she didn’t have theatre background. It seemed there was a lot packed into one performance. There wasn’t enough room on the stage for the choreography to be affective and there were some plot holes. I’m not here though to be critical about the performers, writer or director. I wasn’t all that impressed, but I was absolutely impressed with aesthetics. 

Neil Austin, the lighting designer, met with us before the show. He gave us a tour and gave us a Q&A about the show and the industry. Apparently, the director and scenic designer wanted the set to be a bright yellow. This color pallet can be a challenger for a lighting designer. Due the laws of light refraction and additive color theory, yellows absorb blues. Unfortunately the most used color used in musicals to evoke dramatic moments is usually deep blues. Apparently, from what Neil Austin said, there would be different parts of the set colored while huge portions that where to be lighted remained yellow. To add on top of that when actor would be blocked they would have the exact opposite color desired. There were a lot of compromises and physics involved. At this time, we hadn’t seen the performance yet, so I had no idea what to expect. Now after seeing the aesthetics and learning what went into the process…I was in in awe! The lighting was very much influenced by Bollywood. Which in fact are my favorite color pallet with yellows, reds, oranges, and greens. They managed to project blues and some pinks. That means Neil had to mix colors like deconstruction a math proof. Of course one of the play’s biggest motifs was Football (soccer). Obviously, you can’t go about a theatre punting goals. The solution this predicament was a football (soccer ball) attached to cables that would lift and go along a flight path upstage, and even cooler projections. Moving lights would project an image of a ball with all its stitches. It would move from the stage and among the audience.  It may seem like cliché gimmick, but while in the moment it was very effective. The Lighting Design was the main feature of the show. I wish more directors, actors, musicians, and the audience, knew how difficult it can be as a designer, especially lighting designers. I would suggest this production to up and coming lighting designers. It’s like a case study students need to see learn about the process of being innovative. Nothing in theatre goes according to plan, so it’s important to take on the challenge and be creative.