On the morning of February 24, 2015 we were again summoned in the Gayarre Hall of the Teatro Real to attend the Xth Meeting of Light, which this time was dedicated to the lighting of the opera “El Público” based on the homonymous work by Federico García Lorca.
On various occasions, within this cycle of conferences, we have been able to enjoy different stagings on this same stage, however the one we are dealing with today offers an originality that goes beyond the concepts of classical opera, as it corresponds to a work of surrealistic text where contemporary music and flamenco merge to convey the message of the brilliant Andalusian author. These characteristics allow lighting a creative freedom that would be difficult to develop in other more restricted genres.
The lighting designer chosen for this original opera was Urs Schönebaum who has already worked at the Teatro Real on several occasions, namely in the operas “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny”, “Der Rosenkavalier”, “La página en blanco”, “Così fan tutte” and “La conquista de Méjico”.
The presentation was given by Ezequiel Nobili, member of the board of AAI, who in addition to introducing us to the figure of Urs, thanked the Teatro Real and the sponsors for their invaluable help in carrying out this type of training events.
After this brief prologue, Urs takes the floor and in a correct Spanish, begins to illustrate us about his professional career in which he has been working for 15 years and in which he has not stopped working in other fields (photo, video, etc.). He began in an atypical way for the current uses in our country, as he was a camera operator and learned photography in an architecture studio. He then went on to work with Max Keller, a prominent figure in lighting in Germany, where he was introduced to the profession through repertory theatre and opera, which allowed him to experience the rich variety of staging through the continuous and rapid change of productions. According to what he confessed to us, it was around that time when he decided to dedicate himself to stage lighting because of the immediacy of the vision of results in comparison with cinematography.
Later, he was assistant director to Bob Wilson, with whom he spent several years and for whom he expressed great admiration and to whom he definitely attributes his vocation as an illuminator. He works in large theatres and with the rigid method that characterizes the American director. Subsequently he collaborated with figures of the world scene including several productions with the Fura dels Baus or with the German director Hanneke, which gave him a wide vision of lighting styles.
Urs revealed that due to lack of time, he worked practically live, without previous information and without knowing the music. Also, the slowness in placing the scenery was an added difficulty, as it hindered the installation of the lights.
Such a challenge would not have been possible without the invaluable collaboration or rather complicity of the lighting department of the Teatro Real directed by Angel Palomino. The close professional relationship cemented in previous productions was decisive in solving the atypical demands required by the show.
Another limitation of the lighting is the presence of a back screen with characters on stage. Urs also expressed his dislike of working with shiny dance floors, as in this case, because of the uncontrollable reflections.
All this makes him decide, as a way to face these problems, to use as a base concept a dance box with a lot of lateral light from streets attached to the galleries. For backlighting, he uses HMI of 4 Kw and for the treatment of characters he uses “light boxes” made with mobiles and avoids when he can the general light.
As for the scenography itself, Urs finds himself with three very different main environments to illuminate throughout the opera.
The first is characterized by two elements that dominate the scene and the public’s attention. On the one hand, the use of several panels of different shapes, which, descending from the comb in a frontal way, are distributed randomly allowing transparencies and occupying the area of action. These panels make it very difficult to pull the spotlights.
On the other hand, what is perhaps the most iconic element of the montage: the LABYRINTH, which draws on the floor a figure of a path strongly marked with led light and which forms a powerful image. To achieve this it is necessary to reduce the overall intensity. This penalizes notably the vision of the characters.
All these limitations forced him to solve them by including lighting elements in the scenography. This is achieved by placing LED strips on the vertical lower edge of the panels and installing reflective plastic sheets at the bottom of the methacrylate structures that carry the LEDs that make up the labyrinth. With these two measures you solve the problem of the light of the characters.
As for the chromatic tonality, in this part the cold colours predominate, with hardly any changes.
The second environment is dominated by the presence of two gigantic mirrors placed shoulder to shoulder, coinciding on the central axis of the stage at an angle of approximately 60º, being appreciated from the hall in the shape of an open book.
This resource originates multiple visual effects. Here the lighting is fundamental to achieve these effects. Symmetry is played with and the sudden appearance of characters in the light causes a multiplicity of figures that visually fill the scene and give it a kaleidoscopic aspect, very much in keeping with the surrealist nature of the work.
But to achieve the desired effect, extreme accuracy in angles and focus is required, as any slightest error when working with mirrors has serious consequences, the most frequent being glare.
The colors appear on the scene in shades of red and green mainly.
The last environment is the empty stage space. This means that the problems posed by the scenography disappear, that the direction of light can now be used from any position, that you can work with generals, and so on. Somehow the designer recovers freedom without restrictions.
In this part, it is the color that is the protagonist. It breaks the cold and chromatically poor atmosphere of the first part and the measured restraint of the second part. The use of primary and saturated colors works, giving the stage, an expressiveness that in previous parts was achieved through the scenographic elements.
According to Urs, he considered the first part more artistic, the second more technical and the third meant simplicity as opposed to the surrealism of the work.
In short, Urs showed us an atypical and quite problematic work, where his experience and professionalism together with the dedication and work of the technical staff of the Teatro Real, achieved a brilliant and very appropriate result for an opera of these characteristics. Balancing the different requirements of the work in such unfavourable conditions is certainly not an easy challenge.
After almost two hours, in which Urs’ presentation and the subsequent question and answer session gave us a rough idea of the set-up, the event came to an end.
Angel Palomino, member of AAI, presented Urs with a commemorative plaque thanking him for his willingness to share with us the keys to his design.
The traditional group photo put an end to another “Encounter of Light”, in which the didactic and informative aspects of our work become enjoyable and interesting, thanks to the best professionals who share their time and knowledge in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. We look forward to the next appointment.
Tito Sainz de la Maza (AAI Partner)
Full video of the meeting recorded and edited by the students of CIFP Jose Luis Garci (AAI collaborating partner):
