tomwrightdreamer

I will be honest, of all of these plays, I really want to stage this one. Please someone commission me to do it!

MOVING LIGHTS

The stage is lit. It is empty apart from five moving lights which are fixed to the floor in semi-circle with the open-end to the audience. The lights are referred to here as 1 – 5, with 1 being SR and 5 being SL. There is just enough haze to make the beams of the movers clear when lit.

As the piece starts the house lights slowly fade out and the light on stage goes to a low level (so we can still make out each moving light.) 

The moving lights suddenly snap into sharp angles.

Europe’s The Final Countdown starts. Loud.

During the lead-in the lights turn on, narrow focus and make slow, graceful arcs with their tight beams of white light, across the space. Then when the guitar kicks-in they make bolder direct beams, snapping on and off. This goes on long enough (probably about the time the lyrics start) for us to be impressed and to get the gist of the light-show.

Gradually it becomes apparent that 1 has started to lag behind the others.

This becomes more and more noticeable; the others keep doing the precise and energetic light show until stated otherwise.

1 starts to drift down towards SR, tries to lift up to join the others, but slowly drifts down again.

Finally 1 settles with its beam on 5.

1’s beam softens and slowly turns pink.

1’s beam starts to gently pulse, like a heart beat, slower than the beat of the music.

5’s beam starts to flick down, as if distracted, then tries to keep up with the beat. This happens twice. 

5’s beam finally comes down all the way to focus, open white on 1.

Slowly 2 – 4’s lights also come down and focus on 1. The music stops

1’s suddenly goes to white and scans across 2 – 4. It then snaps up.

2 and 4 drift back up to position.

3’s light, looks at 1, then sharply at 5, then back at 1, it narrows and brightens. Then it snaps become up. The music comes back on.

As before, 1 is in time, then falls out, and quite quickly returns to bouncing a pink late off 5.

5 realises and shines back at him.

3 stops and snaps at 1. The music stops. 2 and 4 come down too and look at 1, then back at 5.

5’s beam on 1 slowly narrows, becomes pink, then starts to pulse with the same beat.

3’s beam widens and goes blood red.

2 and 4 look at 1, then at 3, then slowly look up and meander around the space.

1 starts to move his pulsing pink light over 5.

5 shudders.

5 starts to move her pulsing pink light over 1.

3 looks between them sharply, and becomes an even deeper red.

1 and 5 continue to run their lights over each other. 

3 starts to flick back and forward between them, then starts to vibrate.

Smoke starts to come out of 3.

A pyro behind 3 goes off sending sparks everywhere and 3’s light goes out.

1 and 5’s pink lights grow brighter and start to move off each other to dance together in the space, occasionally the beams caress each other.

2 and 4, still white, accompany as backing dancers.

Debussy’s Claire de Lune plays.

As the music swells 2 and 4 peel off and fade to black.

1 and 5 return to each other, wide pink, pulsing.

Their beams narrow.

The pulse slows.

Their light fades. 

Black.