Lights, Physics, Action: The Science of Theater Lighting Design

A physics professor (DS) and a theater technical instructor (BC) came together in 2018 to plan a general education course on the Physics of Theater Stagecraft. This is less surprising than it sounds, because theatrical lighting design had been Smith’s hobby for almost 30 years, and he has always felt that his understanding of physics helped him better implement the art of stage lighting. In 2019, Guilford College launched a new instructional calendar, and we worked together to offer this interdisciplinary general education course for the first three-week class session. We agreed that our priority was that the students would learn by doing, rather than reading and homework. We spent mornings in the physics lab and afternoons in the theater. There was no final exam—the practical task of creating a design for an actual performance was students’ opportunity to show what they had learned.