A STUDY ON THE DESIGNS AND

STYLES OF JEAN ROSENTHAL

BY ADEGBOLA MITCHEL -110108034

A seminar paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the course work of THA 853 – in Major
Designers and their Styles
Department of Creative Arts, Faculty of Arts
University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos.

Submitted to: Prof. Duro Oni

Dr. Saheed Bello
Introduction
Eugene Rosenthal is considered a pioneer in the
field of theatrical lighting design. In the early 20th
century, the lighting designer was not a formalized
position in the theatre. Rather the set designer or
electrician handled the lighting of a production.
However, she arguably became one of the most
influential and established American Lighting
Designers of the 20th century. Before her death in
1969, she published her famous book, the Magic
of Light.
Eugene Rosenthal
(1912 – 1969)
1928 - She started her
Career with Martha
Graham.

1931 - She then went to the

Yale School of Drama and
studied Lighting with
Stanley McCandless.

1940 – Founded her

Company, The Theatre
Production Service (original
designs for over 200 shows)
Eugene Rosenthal
(1912 – 1969)
Influencers
• Stanley McCandless, an architect who started
consulting for theatre lighting.

• Martha Graham, the renown American ballerina

and dance teacher, who encouraged her to
experiment her lighting designs on her dance
performances.
Her Credits
• Stage Lighting for over 200 Broadway shows like West
Side Story (1957), Becket (1960), Hello, Dolly! (1964),
Hamlet (1964), Fiddler on the Roof (1964), The Odd
Couple (1965), Cabaret (1966), etc.
• Long-term collaborations with Gian Carlo Menotti,
Martha Graham and the New York City Opera.
• Rosenthal also worked as an Lighting consultant,
assisting on such projects as the Pan-American terminal
at the John F. Kennedy Airport in NYC, the Los Angeles
Music Center, the American Shakespeare Festival
Theater in Connecticut, as well as theaters in
Canada and Australia.
Her Publications
Her most popular book, Magic
of Light: The Craft and Career of
Jean Rosenthal, Pioneer in
Lighting for the Modern Stage,
(Little Brown & Co, ISBN 0-316-
93120-9) was published
posthumously in 1972. Lael
Wertenbaker assembled the
book, a long-running project
between her and Rosenthal,
from tape-recorded dictation
sessions.
Design Styles
In drama, the primary goal of the designer is
to light the actor's face, while in dance, the
designer is to reveal the sculptural qualities of the
dancer’s body. The figure on the left is side lit by
two lamps.
Design Styles
• Application of strong backlight and sidelight to
create emotional responses in the audience

• Elimination of stage shadows by resorting to

rich floods of upstage lighting.
• Introduction of colour to lighting design
Contributions to Theatre
• A pioneer in the field of lighting design
championed in the 1930 with detailed lighting
plots
• A definition of the Role of Lighting and its
Designer to Theatre
• Rosenthal pioneered advocating for women’s
rights in the theatre industry
THANK YOU!