To create the sense of place

Creating the sense of place in theatre is mostly a collaborative effort of many. As a playwright Lavery is mostly concerned with creating an emotional sense of place. It’s a mixture of research and working hard to get it right.

When breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the audience it has to make the audience feel safe. Strong structurer provide this safety, so people know what is expected o them. “So that you know that they’re not gonna come and make you come into their frightening world, into their magic space”.
Light is very important for the sense of place in theatre, as in poetry for example. In a tragedy, you start in a blaze of apparently good light and then it goes darker, and actually light goes darker. And then all good plays should take you out into the light again. Very often poets, novelists or filmmakers set certain scenes in the rain or in sunlight. Because pathetic fallacy is that the space you are in, replicates what is in your heart. Your heart is a green meadow with sun on it or your heart is in a dark cave. Light is one of the most important things in story or life anyway, Lavery states.

Lighting designers are the most unsung heroes in theatre, because you’re not always aware of what’s happening. Light deeply influences how people witness. It affects moods and how people witness as well as that it helps to tell the story.

CN