How has light influenced the staging of theatre throughout history?What does light contribute to performance?How does it make meaning?This collection explores the creative potential of light in the theatre. Through a wide range of extracts from historical accounts, new research and rare documents, some presented for the first time in English, Scott Palmer provides new ways of thinking about lighting as a creative performance practice. Focusing on elements such as:- The emergence of lighting design in the theatre- Equipment and techniques- The dramaturgy of light- Its impact on actor, audience and playhouse- The semiotics and phenomenology of light in performanceThe book reveals why light has such a profound effect on the audience's experience of a theatrical event.