Cloud Nine: Lighting design (direction, colour, intensity, special effects)

General Lighting

Climate and location: The lighting design in Cloud Nine is crucial in creating the shift in climate and locale between the two acts. Act 1 requires a warm, harsh and sometimes blinding light reflecting the African colonial setting, whereas Act 2 needs a relatively softer and urban lighting, suggestive of London.
Time passage and mood: Specific lighting can symbolise the shift in day and time, which signifies time passage. Similarly, the tone and mood of a scene may also be indicated through appropriate lighting design.

Direction

Key Light: The main light, or key light, is critical in letting the characters stand out, aiding the audience in focusing on particular characters or actions on stage.
Backlight: The use of backlighting can add a dramatic effect. For example, Edward’s character in drag can be accentuated during his performances by backlighting, reinforcing the theme of gender identity.

Colour

Symbolic implications: The play employs colour-specific lighting to signify emotions or contexts. Warm colours may be used to enhance passionate or intense scenes, while cool colours could suggest calmness or uncertainty.
White light: The use of stark white light at pivotal moments, like when Betty finds her self-identity in Act 2, can symbolise enlightenment or revelation.

Intensity

Dramatic effect: The intensity of the lighting provides an emotional undercurrent to the scenes. Subtle changes in the light intensity can systematically build the tension throughout the play or emphasise dramatic revelations or confrontations.
Dim lights or shadows: They could be used to represent the characters’ hidden desires or repressed lives, aligning with the play’s exploration of sexuality and power dynamics.

Special Effects

Strobe lighting: The use of special lighting effects, like strobe lights during the time transition between the two acts, can create disorientation, mirroring the characters’ confounding journey through time.
Gobos and filters: Gobo projections and colour filters can create distinct backgrounds, such as the African setting in Act 1 or the park in Act 2.

In conclusion, the lighting design in Cloud Nine is highly symbolic and enhances the dramatic tension by highlighting the shifts in time, location and mood, illuminating character dynamics, and reinforcing the play’s themes of sexual politics, gender, and power structures.