Sara Torres is a full-time lighting designer and stage manager. I first met her while working for Seattle International Dance Festival (SIDF), but Sara has worked at nearly every theater in Seattle. Originally, she did not set out to be a stage manager until she began lighting for SIDF and had to learn a lot of skills very quickly.

The primary job of a stage manager is to keep track of all the moving parts in a performance. This includes light and sound cues, moving set pieces, transitions, and scheduling performers to run through tech rehearsal.

Sara discusses the differences between lighting for theater and dane: theater is more cerebral and text-based, while lighting for dance comes from emotion and intention. Theater requires more face light because it is difficult to hear someone when you can’t see their mouth move, whereas dance requires lighting the entire body. In both genres, the top priority in lighting is to suit the mood of the piece and serve the director or choreographer’s vision. On that note, Sara points out that often, describing the vision is more effective than using technical terminology.

Some Do’s and Don’ts for working with a stage manager: DO: -Be on time!!! Stage managers work hard to create painstaking schedules and one person being late can throw everything off. -Read all of the emails all the way through. -Be decisive and know what you want, with a reasonable degree of certainty and knowing that it can change.

DON’T: - Be late or flake out on tech rehearsal. If you are going to be late for reasons you can’t control, communicate. -Expect everything for free. For many theater staff such as Sara, this is their full-time work. It is how they pay the rent. Be aware that your request may cost money. -Be organized.

Through SIDF, Sara has worked with a multitude of difference languages and cultures. What sort of challenges does that present? The language barrier is a big one. Some cultures have different words for theatrical equipment, which can make it difficult to read lighting grids or descriptions.

She shares some stories of odd requests from artists, such as the time she had to lay out a huge piece of sod on stage, then roll it up and and clean the floor during the transition.

Another story involved a surprise during the show with nudity, waterballoons, and paint! Full disclosure before tech is important.

If you’re interested in lighting design as a career, Sara’s advice is to learn to be organized and communicating your needs to other people. Patience is also important, and being open to different methods of communicating.

Finally, Sara encourages all of us to keep making art no matter what. It is more important now than ever!

Penumbra, Lighting Design by Sara Torres: http://penumbralux.com

With Love, April 28-30 (Produced by Version Excursion: https://www.eventbrite.com/myevent?eid=32623274091

March to May's album release party at Triple Door: https://tickets.thetripledoor.net

Seattle International Dance Festival: http://www.seattleidf.org