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In The Right Light
Jason Hand is a Toronto-based lighting designer working in theatre and opera. This past season he received a Dora nomination for his design of The Ugly One for Theatre Smash. He also lit the acclaimed productions of La Bohème and Turn of the Screw for Against the Grain Theatre, and The Arsonists and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Canadian Stage. In 2011, he collaborated with director Joel Ivany and designer Camellia Koo to conceive a production of I Capuletti e i Montecchi that placed third in the biennial European Opera-Directing Prize. Upcoming projects include Morris Panych’s new adaptation The Amorous Adventures of Anatol (Tarragon Theatre) and Joel Ivany’s The Tales of Hoffman (Edmonton Opera). Mr. Hand holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours from York University. (Source: jasonhandlighting.com)
CHARPO: When it comes to a lighting designer, how does the process work? For instance, who has the most input into your work, director? set designer? costumes?
HAND: That's a big question! Here's the Cole's Notes answer. The process starts with a phone call from either my agent or the director with a check of availability and interest. That is, do I have space in my schedule for the show, and do I find it interesting. I usually ask for a script at this point so that I can get a sense of what I'm getting myself into. But there are some directors who I trust to choose good projects. With them, I don't even have to read the script to know that it's going to be an interesting show!
After that, it's a totally different ride for each show. Usually, I have a meeting with the director to get to know them and maybe talk a bit about what they want the piece to be. Sometimes I'll meet with the director and the set designer to start to conceive the shape of the show. We talk about the story a lot. I have set design ideas, the director has lighting ideas, the set designer has staging ideas... it's all a bit of a mess at first... fingers in everyone's pies. After a few of those meetings, the set designer will go away and build a more refined scale model of the show. On these types of shows, we often have the whole thing figured out before we even start rehearsals.
