Arviat (Feb 09/05) - The trio of Ashley Mamgark, Ashton Kablutsiak and Joseph Otuk make up the best light crew the Qitiqliq Drama Club has ever had, says director Gord Billard.

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

The drama club employs 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 lighting is really important to the production because we have to delineate areas of the stage to be different sets because of our limited space," says Billard.

"The lights actually becomes the determining factor in where the action is going to take place and for setting the scenes in any particular play we may be doing."

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.

Billard says the lighting crew takes part in technical rehearsals that allow them to learn the lines that prompt the lighting effects.

They write the cues and the changes they prompt in their lighting plot.

"I go through the notes to make sure they're right and the next rehearsal they do all the changes themselves.

"One handles the script, one the instructions and one the dimmer board."

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."

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."