The lighting sets the mood and temperature of the scenes in the play and influences where on the stage the audience is focussed.
The person running the lighting is very much part of every performance. Lighting changes are frequently a cue for the actors and vice versa. So the person running the lighting is paying close attention to the action on stage.
Again there is a strong collaboration between the director and the lighting person (and yes, we have both men and women who do lighting!).
The first chance the team has to run through the lighting, comes on the Technical Rehearsal – just two days to go to “Curtain up”.