A Brief History of Stage Lighting

'Earliest man performed theatre outdoors and relied on the sun for natural illumination. Once theatre moved indoors an artificial light source was needed. Pine knots in iron cressets and oil lamps with floating wicks were used.

At the beginning of the Renaissance, three light sources were available: oil lamps, the wax candle . . . and torches (including lanterns). . . .

Candles and oil dominated from the restoration to the 1800s until flammable gas came into use in the 1790s. . . .

Developed in the 1820s . . . limelight was an offshoot developed from the use of gas. Called calcium light, the oxy-hydrogen light, or Drummond light, this instrument was based on the principle of heating a block of compressed quicklime with a flame of oxygen and hydrogen mixed together. Limelight was put to theatrical use between 1826 and 1837. . . .

The electric arc was developed . . . in 1808 and first used in 1846 at the Paris Opera House. It was here in 1860 that the first use of the electric spot-light (carbon arc) to 'spot' or follow the character was introduced. . . .

A major breakthrough came in 1879 with Edison's incandescent electric lamp. . . . With electricity came the invention of modern efficient stage lighting equipment.'

'A Brief History of Stage Lighting, from Imitation and Imagination: The Art of the Theatre, by Loren K Ruff, 1994.