1930s theatre lighting in the USSR

[annapotamus]

Hi. I'm a children's writer working on a YA novel set in Leningrad in 1938. One of the characters works on lighting in a large theatre for a while, and I'm trying to research how it would be.

I know a lot about the period, and I'm reading up about theatre of the time, but it's hard to come by specific references to lighting. I'd like to get a handle on the number and roles of people in the lighting team, what lights would be where and other basic information. I'm not going to stuff the story with technical information but I'd like to be able to insert a bit of detail without making howlers. Info about the 1930s in other countries, not just Russia, will be useful, as there was obviously an overlap. The key thing is that I want to get things right for the 1930s.

Can anyone recommend somewhere I can read up about this? In language sufficiently untechnical that I'll be able to follow it? Or direct information would of course be great.

Thanks

 

[SteveB]

My first thought was change the role to carpenter or some such. It might be tons easier to research.

And why such a specific role ?. Soviet Union, 30's, Communism, theater, lighting, etc.... very specific and maybe impossible to get info. on unless you stumble upon somebody who's great grandfather did such AND wrote it all down.

Note that at that point in the history if stage lighting, it was all very basic. Footlights, torms, top lights, etc.... They might have used gel as fileters, but in Moscow ?. I would suspect as well that the technology in the USSR would have been falling behind the rest of Europe, but maybe that's useful info. (if true).

 

[Amiers]

It's a children's novel, if the story doesn't revolve around The lighting guy just use the basics from what Steve said and make the rest up and be creative. Also Google " stage lighting in the 1930s" and it will give you some more ideas.

 

[Dionysus]

I agree that Carptenter, rigger or such would be an easier thing to research for that era in the USSR. However I don't believe the technology would be very different between a large theatre in Moscow or Leningrad compared to the rest of Europe (however I could be wrong).
I think you'd have to stumble upon someone with photos of theatres of the time to get hints of lighting as I doubt there is much historical documentation of lighting from that time specific to the area. There are a few members here who are big time lighting history nuts who may at least be able to point you in the right direction.

The time in question is post 1920s so you'd be dealing with electric lights, as stated mostly footlights, Fresnels, strip lights, PCs, and such I would think.
Control was still primitive compared to what most would be now familiar with. Lighting Technology did not advance very quickly back then so most information from the general era would likely more or less apply.

Id stick to keeping things general with the lighting tech character, unless the historical details of stage lighting was a focus of yours in concept.

Im really sorry that none of us could be of particular help so far. I am aware of some historically accurate old lighting texts, however they are all from the UK or USA so they may or may not apply, but could give you an idea. The titles haven't been in my head for far too long unfortunately.

Good Luck.

 

[JD]

It might be easier to look at American theater in the early 1920's. Because of the isolation in Russia, they were about 15 to 20 years behind. One could reasonably find information about what was happening here by using that time offset.

 

[SteveB]

I would think that for a major theater in Leningrad, the layout and technology of the lighting and systems would be on mostly par with other major European theaters, even in '38. This was the early stages of WWII and no government was investing in the arts at that stage, with military being the priority.

Still, until the Communist revolution, Russia was not really a backwater of Europe, thus possibly the techniques and equipment used would be similar to Warsaw, Berlin, London etc... But can't say for sure. It's certainly an obscure bit of theatrical history that I have never seen mentioned in any book I've ever read.

So possibly researching photo's of other regional theaters of that era would yield some clues as a basis.

As to the actual employees/stagehands ?, employement practices ?, job tea ?, no clue.

 

[Footer]

I would not call communist Russia backwater at all. Stanislavsky did his work during this time. The Bolshoi was still producing new work. In fact the pre cold war soviets dumped a ton of money into the arts. You can assume they kept up with Western technology at this time. The iron curtain was not up yet.

 

[annapotamus]

Hi all. Thanks for your helpful responses.

I’m OK for historical setting as I have a degree in Soviet Studies. There are theatrical memoirs and academic texts about the time, I just can’t find anything that says much about lighting.

Tech would be comparable to the West. The USSR didn’t enter the war until 1941, and their investment priorities in any case weren’t what you might expect. Theatre was important because it could be used to disseminate propaganda, and top leaders often attended as a way of being seen by the people. Meyerhold was working until he got purged at the end of the 30s, so it was no backwater.

My main character Tanya works as a lighting tech for a few months, rather than for the whole story. Being in the rig at a certain point is key to the plot, plus she’s a girl. While there was such chaos and so many arrests at the time that a woman with the right basic skills might end up in a male-dominated skilled job because there was such a flap to replace the latest arrested person, it’s less likely she’d be doing a relatively generalist male-dominated job like carpentry.

So that’s the context. The kind of thing I’d love to get, and what everyone is agreeing is obscure, is a bit of info about the likely team structure, because that would affect her daily life. The stuff that seems obvious to you guys isn’t to me, and vice versa, I think. Footlights, torms, strip lights, fresnels and PCs, top lights constitute basic? Gel filters might have been in use? That’s the level of information that’s useful to me, because I can then google specific things. Googling ‘stage lighting in the 1930s’ gets me some technical info but not a sense, for example, of what someone would be doing with the kit, since I know so little about it. Tanya’s pretty traumatised after all she’s been through and she likes hanging out in the rig dealing with electrics instead of people, so she’d be conscious both of the detail of what she’s doing, and the people she does have to deal with.

Recommendations of historically accurate texts from the US and UK would be greatly welcome – I don’t want to buy a book off Amazon or hunt through libraries only to find it’s no use. And definitely info from any ‘big time lighting history nuts’!

 

[Dionysus]

Which London are you in (UK, Ontario?)? Having a look at an older theatre might be of some help, with a tech who knows at least a little of how "things were done" (or may of been done).

I wish I could remember those book titles, I know there is a copy of one at one of the theatres I do work at (in London, Ontario).

Overall organizational structure (team format) from a theatre 'back in the day' is something I personally could only guess too. Of course I can assume it isn't vastly different from today, but you know what they say about assumptions.

I wish I knew for sure if in that exact time frame rather gels and coloured glass roundels were in use. Now I believe they both would be. We've been colouring light since before the electric light. I know more about gelatin gel being replaced than when it was first truly developed off hand. The only book I have that might reference this I currently have out on loan.

 

[Footer]

I highly doubt at that time that things were as departmentalized as they are today. Read the Dramatic Imagination... At that time there was one designer that did everything... I assume the crew worked the same way.

 

[annapotamus]

I'm in London, UK. I'd certainly love to look inside a theatre, given a chance. There are some backstage tours available here, and I'll go on one, but I don't suppose the guides will be lighting experts. I'll be asking them though...

 

[Amiers]

Well that does shed a bit of light on the subject. Team structure would be how you would see it, If it is a woman running things does she have a crew, is she alone, does she answer to others? Different levels of theatre run different ways. Example I am my own dept, I troubleshoot, fix, hang, focus, design, OP, and busk the work depends on the day and i set my own schedule based on time and priority. Community Theatre would run more crew. TD says what is going to happen that day and give the list of things wanted seen done. I would think if this is a "Propaganda House" so to speak the military officials come in say I want it to look like this and thus it is made happen.

 

[annapotamus]

This is quite a large professional theatre in central Leningrad so I'm assuming a team would be required (though it would make it simpler for me if not; no side characters to create without them slowing the story down!). Tanya doesn't have any theatre experience when she's hired, she's just good with electrics, so if there was a team she wouldn't be running anything. On the other hand things were presumably simpler then so less people might have been involved? The theatres had artistic freedom in theory - they had to work out what was expected of them and do it, rather than actually being told what to do. No direct instructions from military authority.

 

[Amiers]

Well then I would say she is one of two. They would both share the duties of setup and repairs on a daily and would take two to operate just to keep it simple. That is less you have to go into detail to introduce a new character that is just going to get dismissed in a chapter or two.

 

[venuetech]

http://backstagefox1929.blogspot.com/2014/03/part-i-hub-switchboard-operating-manual.html

I think at that time in a large house there would be a large electric crew. IE the side stage bridge positions that are pictured would have had color changes for different scenes plus an dedicated operator for the carbon arc follow spot. so the FS operator is on the bridge all the time. For a scene change 2 or three fellows would climb into position to quickly change the color frames. that would be on both sides of the stage so bam that's four to six guys right there plus at least two or three at the dimmers then there would be additional crew in foh positions
a performance day would start about 2 hours before curtain with checks and tests of fixtures and any minor maintenance such as lamp changes, making sure the follow spots have a supply of arc carbons. checking and organizing the color frames for the changes. The fox theatre shows a major improvement in the dimmers being "dead front" meaning you could not easly reach in to touch live electrical parts. something we take for granted today but back then there were lots of spots to grab and get a jolt.

 

[venuetech]

The fox theatre plans are also very interesting especially the offices and telephone listings as many of these positions would very likely be in a state theatre. and sadly the drawings also document american segregation issues in the "colored" box office, entry separate stairs and gallery.
http://backstagefox1929.blogspot.com/search/label/PART II: AUDIO AND ELECTRO-MECHANICALS

 

[JD]

On the other hand things were presumably simpler then so less people might have been involved?

This is one area I think we will all agree on- Things were not simpler then! Simply dimming a single circuit was a task! At best, we would be talking large resistance dimmers or saturable core reactors, at worst, salt water dimmers. What can be done at the push of a button now was often accomplished back then by one or more men pulling large ganged levers on a series of plate dimmers. Because dimmers were huge and the numbers of them so small, often large scale re-patches would have to occur moving from scene to scene. It was all very intense! Things seem more complicated these days because we make them complicated to fill larger and larger artistic visions. Human nature- The easier it is to do something, the more we add to do! Still, with modern computer based boards, showtime usually involves someone repeatedly pushing the "go" button to move to the next scene! (Sometimes known as "Drinky Bird" board op.)

 

[SteveB]

Agree with John, not simple shows to run.

I would suspect the protagonist would be part of a large'ish crew, with multiple electricians running a large resistance control panel. Or possibly a front light (follow spot) operator. But not alone certainly.

 

[JonCarter]

Look up or Google "Louis Hartman". Hartman as Belasco's electrician in the early 20th C in the US and invented a lot of things we use now. Possibly a bit early but will give you ideas on what was done before that time in the US. Hartman's book is one of the earliest on llighting in the US.

 

[kicknargel]

To back up a little with some information that's not necessarily period or location specific, but so basic it should be universal.

Two main phases: setting up a show before it opens, and running it once it does.

In setup, light fixtures need to be installed (hung). They will likely be hanging from rigging above the stage, on the sides (in the wings), over the audience, on the audience side walls (balcony position), and on the front of the stage (footlights). There would likely be some lights overhead toward the back of the stage to light backdrops / cyclorama. All these would need to be wired to the dimmers, which would likely be in one of the wings. There would probably be outlets pre-wired in some locations, and others might require heavy electric cables to be run. These lights would need to be hung according to some designers' plan, then focused (aimed as needed), and have some kind of color media installed. There would be testing and maintenance on all the equipment. Not sure in the era how much the setup would change show-to-show, or be left in place.

To run the show, as mentioned there would probably be several people operating large handles that physically controlled the dimmers. Different cables might be plugged and unplugged from the dimmers (probably using a patch panel or patch bay - look that up) to operate different sets of lights. Some people might be positioned at the lights in various locations to change colors between scenes, etc. Some people would operate follow-spots (probably carbon-arc), probably from the back of the house (booth). These would be heavy and very hot. All of this work would be heavy and hot, frankly.

A lot of the work would resemble sailing in some ways, with equipment being hoisted by ropes and people climbing along catwalks, and even dangling via ropes and perhaps a boatswains chair. In fact, sometimes scene change cues were given via a boatswain's pipe, which is why it's still bad luck to whistle in a theatre. Don't want to accidentally trigger a scene change.