Drama 16 Stage Lighting

1. Norfolk, Massachusetts. Thursday, April 2nd. 9PM
2. Isolation
3. It’s not like I got out much before, but now that we’re forced to be inside I want to all the more. My daily dose of freed usually comes in the form of an hour drive around my town (its still social distancing if I don’t leave my car, right?) I stopped by one of my fav locations, an abandoned airfield 15 minutes away from my house. Just a week ago, it would have been occupied by dogs and families, but now a warning was tacked at the entrance bearing the words “Covid 19 Epidemic”. My headlights threw a stark light onto the empty field, reminding me of the isolation we are all currently facing. 

1. February 25, 2020. 11:30 PM. 
2. Theme: Night Life
3. I’m not much of night owl. Bed by 11, wake up early to start the day.  Thus, most of my “night life” is this: coming home late from work. Not that I mind it. I find peace in a quiet day after a long day. I sat in my car selecting the perfect song for my three minute ride home, I was calmed by the uniform line made by the lamps lighting the Breslin courtyard. However, the direct naked headlights matched my annoyance in having to cross the chilled Unispan (poor planning on my part). 

• Saturday, February 15th, 11:30 PM
• Single Light Source
• I was working a late shift at my on-campus job and had just returned to campus to close down the remains of big sorority event. I entered room 141 – one of our small classrooms – the find the room completely dark, spare the street light of Stuyvesant parking lot shining through the trees and onto the curtained window. Past the curtain however, the light formed an angled shaft broken up by jagged tree limbs on the wall.

1) Tuesday, February 4th. 10:00 PM. 

2) On the second floor of Davison Hall, the overhead halogen lights share the space with the bright afternoon light shining through the ceiling-high windows. The cold fluorescent light of my afternoon class cuts into the warm light of the hallway, silhouetting a student’s figure standing in the doorway.

3) The morning sun I walked to campus under had now matured into a bright afternoon light. It’s supportive rays temporarily combat my already growing weariness before I begrudgingly retire into the sickly white-green light of Davison Hall. I ascend the stairs, the sunlight reaching through trees and windows to give me a final push I needed. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, I resentfully turn my back on the light and round the corner to find a silhouette cast upon the ground. It’s indistinct voice wafts through the doorway, adding to the mystery of what awaits me. I hope some rest.

1. Taken outside my work in September of 2016.
2. Sunrise/Sunset
3. As I am released from my eight hour shift peddling overpriced gym memberships and watery protein shakes, I am greeted by the burning orange of the setting sun battling with the dull blue-gray of the encroaching night, with the cirrus clouds absorbing the receding rays before assimilating into the darkness. It speaks of freedom; of a long awaited ending and promise of a beginning; of a closing of an era; of a dying God.