Michael Broderick with Koketso Motsumi and Lebogang Maria Phahlamohlaka, third-year Tshwane University of Technology’s students who attended the course.
For Michael Taylor-Broderick presenting the two-day Theatre Lighting Workshop at DWR Distribution in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, was less about imparting knowledge, although he did that, and more about imparting passion. The course covered a range of topics from stage lighting to elements of design and was held during October.
“I am passionate and I absolutely love what I do,” said Michael, a lighting designer for over fifteen years. “Every time I walk into a theatre I’m aware of how special and magical it is. I treat it with great respect and the idea is that other people should do that too. All forms of performing arts, all kinds of live performance are indebted to the theatre and its demands in some way.
Durban
The course covered the essentials like the properties of light and colour, lighting positions and angles, lighting instruments, design and even a touch on theatre language. “I try to instill that lighting is not about the lighting designer, but actually about what’s on the other side,” explains Michael. “There is a great Jean Cocteau quote I use, ‘The sum of all the lanterns should never be greater than the light shining from the actor’s hearts.’ For me, that is essentially what it is, you are not there to show off your skills, but you are there to enhance the skills of the people on the stage. It’s quite simple and hopefully, it resonates.”
Cape Town
Michael joined the DWR Durban branch in July 2016. He has great plans for training workshops, open days and other creative outlets. Every so often we have to be reminded that we are in this industry because we love it and there’s nowhere else we’d rather be.
Johannesburg
