LIGHTING "THE GOOD DOCTOR"

Every show has its technical challenges I suppose, but when the production moves to a different venue with each performance, and the venues themselves are designed to hold meetings, dances or Sunday schools, the challenges rise exponentially.

For one thing, you have to bring in lighting equipment, and because you're moving in--and out--each night, it has to be portable . . . and easy to carry. Your "stage" changes with the dimensions of the hall: sometimes you're on the floor, sometimes in front of bulletin boards fastened to the wall, and always, you're having to cope with natural light streaming in through far too many windows. The set too must be portable, and minimal. And the actors' costumes are another variable; in "The Good Doctor" the actors wear a lot of black and they change costumes with each new scene.

What to do? Director Andre Haines and Producer Laurel Darnell approached George Gore whose lighting skills have been best described by Kerry Keddy of chesterns.ca: "George could light a show with a match."

In fact, George hasn't used a great deal more than a match. And he doesn't need to. When he described the lighting requirements for "Three Penny Opera," Bertold Brecht said, "It should be staged as a poor company doing its best." Andre Haines wants a similar effect. Since "The Good Doctor" is Neil Simon's tribute to Anton Chekhov, Haines asked George for a lighting design that would approximate early 20th century lighting--footlights and toplights--and make it obvious to the audience that they are in a theatre.

So George went about building footlights, and, thanks to the generosity of The Mahone Bay Seniors Project, acquired rudimentary par cans on stands run by a small 12-channel board. The result is often stunning.

"The Good Doctor," with sponsorship from the Chester Drama Society, will be travelling to a theatre/venue near you: Opening night is April 28 at the Atlantica Hotel Oak Island; April 29, Blockhouse Waldorf School; April 30, Trinity United Church, Mahone Bay; May 6, Chester United Baptist Church; May 13, Lunenburg Academy, and May 20-21, Martin's River Fire Hall.