DESIGN PROCESS

DANCE NATION by Clare Barron

Brooklyn College Spring 2024

Lighting Design by Lem Goldstein

After my initial few readings of the script, I wrote a lighting design point of view statement:

Clare Barron said about Dance Nation: “I wanted to write this play because I wanted to present a different picture of teenage girls onstage. One where trauma wasn’t the central narrative. One where ‘being the best’ was.” (link)

Dance Nation was published in 2018, in the wake of the 2016 Presidential Election and the 2017 resurgence of the MeToo movement. This was a time where “bodies”, particularly the bodies of women, were constantly being debated and policed. One particularly abhorrent statement from Donald Trump in 2016 was, “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything” (it’s also important to note that Trump won the popular vote in Ohio, where the play is set). Parallels can be drawn between this quote and some of the phrasing that Barron uses in the script, specifically the use of the words “pussy” and “star”. What does it mean to a teenager to watch their body become a political battleground, what does it mean to “perform” and become a “star,” how are these questions connected to each other, and how can lighting be used to emphasize this relationship?

Clare Barron also gives us simple yet clear instructions in the stage directions that provide some clues for lighting. These include:

“BLINDING WHITE LIGHTS”

“THE STARS COME OUT”

“ONE BRIGHT LIGHT SHINING DOWN FROM HEAVEN”

“THE MOON COMES OUT”

“THE LIGHTS SNAP BACK TO FLUORESCENTS”

“CLIMBING UP A HILL, AFTERNOON SUNSHINE”

Instead of depicting these words literally and graphically, can we ask ourselves some questions about what Barron really means? What emotions are Barron trying to evoke when she writes about imagery such as “the moon” or “the stars” or “a hill”? These phrases are indicative of “the outside world,” how is that symbolic of the experiences that these young teen characters are going through? How can the lighting not only establish a visual vocabulary to clarify dramaturgy, but also help create distinct atmospheres for these various spaces? And in the case of this particular production at Brooklyn College, how do we do all of this in a traverse stage?

The rest of the POV statement is below:

Next, I synthesized all of these ideas into a cohesive list of design goals for myself:

• Support the visual clues in the stage directions written by Barron (ie. “Blinding white lights” or “One bright light shining down from heaven”), both aesthetically and emotionally

• Establish a visual vocabulary to clarify dramaturgy and create distinct atmospheres for the various locations within the play

• The studio is cool, bright and feels harsh; the dressing room is warmer and feels safe

• The competition lighting is more about beautifully sculpting bodies with light coming from lower angles

• Reality-break moments (i.e. "baby sexy robots" sequence) are vibrant and colorful

• Reality-breaking monologues are intimate and occur in a void, completely and drastically departing from the scene light

Then, I thought more specifically about what lights I would need. I made a lighting key:

I also made a list of specials:

At this point, I had the scenic drawings from the set designer, and I drafted my light plot.

Below is my final plot, set LX build drawings, and magic sheet: