A physics professor (DS) and a theater technical instructor (BC) came together in 2018 to plan a general education course on the Physics of Theater Stagecraft. This is less surprising than it sounds, because theatrical lighting design had been Smith’s hobby for almost 30 years, and he has always felt that his understanding of physics helped him better implement the art of stage lighting. In 2019, Guilford College launched a new instructional calendar, and we worked together to offer this interdisciplinary general education course for the first three-week class session. We agreed that our priority was that the students would learn by doing, rather than reading and homework. We spent mornings in the physics lab and afternoons in the theater. There was no final exam—the practical task of creating a design for an actual performance was students’ opportunity to show what they had learned.

2.
V. B.
Martell
and
E. C.
Martell
,
The Physics of Theatre: Mechanics
(
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
,
North Charleston, SC
,
2015
).
3.
Of course handbooks in theatrical lighting design, such as
N.
Fraser
,
Stage Lighting Design
(
Crowood Press
,
Marlborough, UK
,
1999
) or the classic
R.
Pilbrow
,
Stage Lighting Design: The Art, The Craft, The Life
(
Design Press
,
New York, NY
,
1997
) contain material on electricity and color, but the intent of these books is more to give background than it is to show how science and art illuminate each other.
4.
R.
Cadena
,
Electricity for the Entertainment Electrician & Technician
(
Focal Press
,
Burlington, MA
,
2009
).
5.
Jeffrey E.
Salzberg
and
Judy
Kupferman
, “
Stage Lighting for Students
,” https://www.stagelightingprimer.com/, accessed June 17, 2020.
6.
C.
Taylor
,
Color & Light: Navigating Color Mixing in the Midst of an LED Revolution, a Handbook for Lighting Designers
(
Quite Specific Media
,
2019
).
8.
T. B.
Greenslade
and
S. G.
Heisler
, “
Stage lighting instruments
,”
Phys. Teach.
13
,
548
(
Dec.
1975
).
9.
Very similar to the activity described in
Dean
Livelybrooks
, “
‘Feel’ the difference between series and parallel circuits
,”
Phys. Teach.
41
,
102
(
Feb.
2003
).
10.
See, e.g.,
Tony R.
Kuphaldt
,
Lessons in Electric Circuits
(online textbook), Chap. 7, https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/, accessed June 17, 2020, or Ref. 4, Chap. 11.
11.
W.
Christian
and
M.
Belloni
,
Physlet Physics
, 3rd ed., online edition, https://www.compadre.org/physlets/, Chap. 35, accessed June 17, 2020.
12.
See, e.g.,
Melissa
Dancy
,
Wolfgang
Christian
, and
Mario
Belloni
, “
Teaching with Physlets®: Examples from optics
,”
Phys. Teach.
40
,
494
(
Nov.
2002
).
13.
Parabolic Aluminized Reflector (PAR).
14.
For descriptions of the different types of stage lighting instruments, see, e.g.,
Matt
Kizer
, Scenic and
Lighting
Design
, https://scenicandlighting.com/lightlab/stagelights.htm.
15.
P.
Gilbert
and
W.
Haeberli
,
Physics in the Arts
(
Academic Press
,
Waltham, MA
,
2012
).
16.
M.
Livingstone
,
Vision & Art: The Biology of Seeing
(
Abrams Books
,
New York
,
2002
).
17.
Dan
MacIsaac
,
Gary
Kanner
, and
Graydon
Anderson
, “
Basic physics of the incandescent lamp (lightbulb
),”
Phys. Teach.
37
,
520
525
(
Dec.
1999
).
18.
How to properly choose a color filter
,” Rosco Spectrum, https://www.rosco.com/spectrum/index.php/2016/04/how-to-properly-choose-a-color-filter/, accessed June 17, 2020.
19.
James
Lincoln
, “
Introducing the yellow laser
,”
Phys. Teach.
56
,
124
(
Feb.
2018
).
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