Arviat (Feb 28/05) - Ashley Mamgark, Ashton Kablutsiak and Joseph Otuk like to take part in theatre, but behind the spotlight - literally.

They are the light crew of the Qitiqliq Drama Club in Arviat, and director Gord Billard says they are the best one they have ever had.

The three are responsible for the lighting magic that happens on stage with the use of eight professional theatre lights.

The drama club uses four 500-watt Leko spotlights, which cast light in a variety of shapes, and four Fresnel lights, which provide a diffuse border type of light for general lighting. The club's most recent performance was of A Christmas Carol during the Christmas holidays.

Otuk became interested in lighting because he wanted to be involved with a play without being on stage, while Kablutsiak simply wanted to try something new.

Mamgark says he had method behind his madness.

"The lighting crew have the best seats in the house," says Mamgark.

"They see the whole stage from high up on the mezzanine, above the crowd and dead centre to stage."

Kablutsiak says lighting adds to a scene's mood and makes the audience focus on what's going on. The crew members are quick to give examples from their work on A Christmas Carol.

"The lighting has a lot to do with how the audience sees a scene," says Kablutsiak. "Very dim lights in Scrooge's bedroom make the scenes there seem scary."

Coloured gels are used to dim the lights and set the tones in a production. In A Christmas Carol, a cool blue gel was used for Scrooge's office because he never kept a fire burning.

Otuk says some scenes are so important, he gets excited as they draw near in the script.

"Marley's ghost was really exciting because the special lighting was so cool," says Otuk.

"With perfect timing, it looked like a real ghost was coming out of the wall."