Exploring Remote Alternatives in Lighting Education

In the educational theatre world, it is often imperative that lighting students have access to a light lab: a miniature theatre with small, easily changeable lighting units for experimentation with the distribution, direction, and color of light to simulate intentions and make corrections to prepare for a live performance. However, in the time of COVID-19, with many students living off-campus, and many light labs too small to properly social distance, It has become important to find alternatives. This being said, many remote lighting alternatives are expensive, costing thousands of dollars to obtain an experience similar to programming a professional lighting console. By researching open sound control, or OSC, the principles of “Busking” or improvisational lighting design, and the EOS family lighting console software, I developed a user-friendly, affordable, and remote alternative to the costly light labs that are standard in college theater programs across the country, making the fundamentals of lighting design more accessible specifically in the time of the pandemic while also maintaining the integrity of the console interaction. Ultimately, by utilizing an iPad, a computer, and a touch monitor I created an interactive digital environment that allows lighting students to gain the necessary practice to develop their skills as lighting designers.