Leading Light with…Malcolm Rippeth – Part Two

Emilia Fox and Ralph Fiennes in Richard II at the Gainsborough Studios. Malcolm was one of the Lighting Technicians for the season. 

Malcolm was working on the London fringe scene for a good five years and he once again reached the point where he was left asking questions about his career: “I’d been working on the fringe for a while and, while it was great collaborating with so many people, I didn’t feel I was progressing”. The year was 2000 and Malcolm decided to take a year out to work at the Almeida’s temporary Gainsborough Studios space. The six month season included two Shakespeare productions starring Ralph Fiennes. He comments: “It was a really exciting project in a unique venue which is why I was so keen to get involved. I was one of the lighting technicians which meant I got to see first-hand the ins and outs of how everything worked. It was, again, a great learning curve”. The productions were to take on a life of their own and see Malcolm go on this journey with them. He comments: “The shows then went over to New York and Tokyo which was just an incredible experience. What made it even better was seeing someone such as Mark Henderson working in these vast spaces and managing to use the light as intricately yet effectively as possible. Having now not lit a show for nine months due to working on the production, this inspired me to not only get back in the game but push myself to take the next step in my career”.

Malcolm lit Romeo and Juliet for ETT.

Malcolm soon found himself back in London and, using the contacts he’d made in Edinburgh and on the fringe, put himself forward for some relighting work. He comments: “I decided that relighting would give me the chance to work with established LDs and learn how to light shows on a bigger scale. I found myself doing relights for Bruno Poet, Ben Omerod, Mark Henderson and the ETT. What relighting shows really taught me was how to transfer ideas to bigger venues. Having worked on the fringe where spaces were so intimate, this was a real sense of stepping up in terms of scale yet also ambition”. And while Malcolm was technically relighting the work of others, it did offer him the opportunity to implement his own lighting design: “What you need to remember is that a show is never finished and a lot of those I relit were actually developing on tour. Therefore you have to bring your own creative vision to the piece when adapting to any amendments. It’s a fantastic bridge between working on the fringe and larger venues”. And this creative flair was noted by many of the companies that Malcolm worked with. He comments: “Having worked on several ETT relights, they offered me my first show as designer: Romeo and Juliet. It was directed by Stephen Unwin and toured the UK before travelling to the Hong Kong Arts Festival. This was a great opportunity for my work to be seen on a wider scale all across the country and it definitely felt that I’d made that next step”. It was around this time that Malcolm had what he deems to be his biggest career break. He recalls: “In 2002, Northern Stage approached me, asking if I would light my first show on their main stage. This was Pandora’s Box and it was a co-production with Kneehigh Theatre. I remember meeting with Emma Rice and the rest of the Kneehigh team early in rehearsals in Cornwall. We immediately hit it off and fifteen years later I’m still lighting their shows”.

Brief Encounter for Kneehigh was an international success.

As an Associate Artist of Kneehigh Theatre, Malcolm has worked on a range of the company’s productions including Tristan & Yseult, The Red Shoes, The Wild Bride, The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. He comments: “I love Kneehigh as a company. They are extremely ambitious in what they make and that pushes me as a designer. Whenever I’m lighting one of their shows, I find myself being part of the process from day one, through the planning and the chaos, eating and playing together. It’s a proper collaboration and I feel I’ve played a role in making that piece of work, not just lighting it”. Undoubtedly one of the biggest collaborations with Kneehigh is Brief Encounter, for which Malcolm won the White Light WhatsOnStage Award for Best Lighting Design and was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award in New York. He recalls: “Brief Encounter seemed to be one of those shows that just got bigger and bigger. It initially toured in 2007 before transferring to the West End in 2008. It then toured again in 2009, before transferring to Broadway in 2010, before another tour and then going to Australia in 2013. It’s a really special production. It was one of those situations where everything just came together as it were. We had a great team, great material and what resulted was a very memorable production. It was also one of those rare shows that it seemed everyone could go and see and get something from – proven by the fact that it’s one of the few shows I’ve taken my father to, and he loved it!”.

Malcolm’s work at Shakespeare’s Glove is one of his proudest achievements. 

Over the past ten years, Malcolm has worked on a whole range of productions which, together, produce a very enviable CV. These include The Empress at the RSC, Refugee Boy at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Spring Awakening with Headlong, After Electra at Theatre Royal Plymouth, Only the Brave at Wales Millennium Centre and Pleasure at Opera North. I ask him if there is one show that he would class as a particular highlight. And while Brief Encounter was obviously a phenomenal success, it’s not an actual show which he’s most proud of. He comments: “One of the highlights of my career was the installation of the temporary lighting rig at Shakespeare’s Globe. When Emma Rice was appointed Artistic Director, she asked me to design a rig that would be suitable for the space; as discreet and sympathetic to the building as possible but also widely versatile for any number of lighting designers to explore. It provided an opportunity to discover this unique theatre in a new way, for creative teams and audiences alike. We’ve celebrated the fact that, for the majority of evening shows, you have natural light dominant for the first half and then our own lighting becoming dominant for the second. It’s the best of both worlds and it was thrilling for me to be the first lighting designer to work here. The response was extraordinary; overwhelmingly positive but also provoking hate mail and ultimately controversy which led to national news stories. Boudica will be the last show to be lit here this season, and the board have made it clear that there will be no place for theatrical lighting in the future. I’m incredibly proud of what our short-lived lighting department have achieved, on an exhilarating but all too brief journey”.

The Tin Drum which has since opened to rave reviews.

And so comes the point with every Leading Light where I ask Malcolm if he has any words of wisdom for the next generation of Lighting Designers. What he offers is obviously drawn from his own experience of working his way up:  “Whatever role you find yourself in on a production, try to engage with the lighting design. That sounds an obvious thing but it can be fascinating, whether you’re rigging lights, programming, attending a meeting or cutting colour, to try to figure out what the LD is up to, how you might approach the same production, the same set design. Whenever you walk into a room, consider the lighting and how this can be used creatively. I remember when I was working at the Almeida as a technician – I would always be thinking about the lighting in that space and how I would use it. If you’re lucky enough to work in theatre then listen in to the creative team’s conversation when you can and see what you find”. He also has some more general advice: “I try not to forget that everyone working on a show, and in the organisations and buildings that produce them, are essential to what we do. Also I don’t see any heirarchy between nominally creative and technical roles – good production electricians and programmers can be my closest collaborators and their work requires both great skill and creativity”.

At that point, Malcolm’s phone vibrates and he has to dash off back to rehearsals. We walk along the Southbank and I ask him what he has coming up following Boudica. He informs me: “I’m about to get back into rehearsals for a new Kneehigh show called The Tin Drum. I’m really excited as I love working with Kneehigh. They are a truly collaborative company and everyone, director, actors and lighting designer, is a part of the entire creative process. This level of engagement is what I try to bring to every job I work on”. And looking at how much Malcolm has achieved in the past few years alone, it’s clearly an approach that’s worked extremely well.

Photos courtesy of ETT, Geraint Lewis, Jim Cox, Malcolm Rippeth, Something Concrete, Steve Tanner and the University of Hull.