Leading Light with…Paule Constable – Part One

                                                                                                                                  Our Copywriter Adam sits down with Tony and Olivier Award winner Paule Constable.

Paule Constable

Ask anyone interested in theatre to name five lighting designers and you can guarantee that Paule Constable will appear on the list. Not only is Paule one of the most successful lighting designers this country has ever produced but is also a pioneer for female artists in the industry. We’ve been meaning to meet for a while yet her extremely busy schedule has meant that this hasn’t come into fruition. Thankfully, she’s back in London working on a production of Seventeen at the Lyric Hammersmith which allows us to finally sit down and chat. That said, we have only an hour before she goes into a second preview; and it’s an hour in which I intend to hear all about her fascinating journey.

As always with Leading Light, we start at the beginning. For Paule, this is North Devon; although the West Country was only a temporary abode. She comments: “My dad was a hunter pilot in the military. As a result, we moved all across the world. I lived in Germany, Belgium and even the Middle East. I wasn’t really used to anything else so it didn’t seem that unusual”.  When Paule began her education, she attended boarding school, where a lot of other children were also part of RAF families. She adds: “I went away when I was 8 and remained so for all my education.  It never seemed a big deal to me.  All the other officers’ kids were away at school.  When we came home in the holidays, we immediately formed a tight community”. It might come as a surprise that, during her formative years, Paule had no interest in theatre. Rather, she was more interested in climbing trees and the great outdoors. She states: “I was a bit of a tomboy. My older brother was an academic whereas my father was very sporty so this was something I did with him. I was very active and preferred to be on my feet”.

Goldsmiths University Students Protesting in 1986.

Whereas Paule shared her father’s passion for all things outdoors, he made sure that this was the only thing they shared: “Dad was very clear – he told me specifically that I could be anything I wanted but he didn’t want me to be a fighter pilot. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but I was made clear it wasn’t to be this!”. At this point though, theatre was yet to make a big impact on Paule’s life. She adds: “Although theatre still didn’t really interest me, I did start to get involved at school. My initial reasons for doing this weren’t artistically motivated – if we used the theatre at school it meant we could sneak out for a smoke!”. So the arts didn’t really strike Paule as a career choice at that point. She still remained very academic yet she reached a crossroads at college. She comments: “My A Levels were a real eclectic mix. I picked Maths, Physics, History of Art and English – therefore it was an extremely random choice! Yet it was also one without a very definite sense of direction”. This didn’t prevent Paule from continuing with her studies and she soon found herself on the way to London where she studied English at Goldsmiths University. It would be a move that would influence the rest of her career and personal life.

The original Angels in America at the National Theatre (which Paule is currently lighting at the National).

When Paule attended Goldsmiths University, this was run by Peter Hoggett and it was a very left-wing, radical institution. She recalls: “I attended university in 1986 and this marked the end of the miners strike. I remember going down to Wapping and standing on the picket lines. There was a lot of political activity at that time. It was also very exciting for me personally as I had received a very traditional upbringing in a very enclosed world. Suddenly, this was burst open and I was introduced to people I’d never come across before. It was also great as I lived in East London when it was still the East End. There was a real sense of community where people genuinely knew one another, which is sadly no longer there”. Whilst in London, this meant that Paule got to see more theatre and soon her interest grew. So much so that she changed her course from solely English to English and Drama; a decision she made due to the fact that “you didn’t study plays with just English”. With her change of course and the fact that she was seeing more plays than ever before, it seemed that Paule had finally discovered the direction she was lacking; albeit by accident.

During her university years, Paule saw lots at the ENO, productions by Cheek by Jowl and even the original Angels in America. She recalls: “My passion just seemed to slowly grow with the more I saw. It was a very natural progression and I just enjoyed engaging with new work”. During her degree, Paule would work part time to make ends meet like most students. It was her flatmate’s persuing of romance that would lead to Paule’s first experience of working in theatre. She comments: “My flatmate was a stage manager and would work on a range of shows. Then one day she fell in love and moved to Spain (as you do!). At the time, she was a follow spotter at Hackney Empire where she was working on Black Heroes in The Hall of Fame. One morning the phone went and someone said that Jackie needed to be at the theatre by ten. As I was completely broke, I said that she’d be there – only she was me!”. Paule then made her way over to the Hackney Empire: “To this day I still don’t really know why I said yes or what I was expecting. I remember turning up and not knowing what I was doing. However, it wasn’t as disastrous as it could have been. Thankfully, the other followspotter, Fiona Simpson, was extremely approachable and talked me through the various steps”.

Black Heroes in The Hall of Fame was Paule’s first professional lighting job.

Paule must have made an impact in her inaugural attempts at followspotting as she was then asked by Midnight Design to work on a rock ‘n’ roll show – something she jumped at the chance to do. She recalls: “I was asked to work on this show and the guys there needed someone to climb up on the rig. I think they were surprised at how eager I was to do this – a part of my inner tree- climbing child must have reemerged!”. Paule continued to work for Midnight Design on a range of rock ‘n’ roll concerts alongside her studies. It was during this time that she met Dave Bryant, who was resident Lighting Designer at the London Astoria Theatre (which has since been demolished). Paule comments: “Dave was a huge influence and really showed me the ins and outs of lighting as it were. We worked on everything from Acid House clubs to live gigs. Dave offered advice to Paule who began lighting her own shows in the third year of university. She states: “There wasn’t a particular moment where I thought I am now going to be a lighting designer. I actually just liked getting my hands on kit!”.

The Astoria Theatre where Paule met Dave Byrant

Paule soon graduated and continued to freelance and light shows when and where she could. It was also during this time that she met her partner, Ian, who worked at People Show – an immersive, experimental theatre company who Paule worked with. Paule also worked on the Festival of Circus on the Southbank and continued to work alongside Midnight Design. She also began to work for established lighting designers, which not only saw her gain valuable experience but offered her first-hand insight into their methods. She states: “I remember carrying Ben Ormerod’s bags while I was lighting his shows! I was never afraid to get stuck in and when I worked on a production I always made sure I helped out as much as I could”. Paule continued to relight a lot of other shows, including those of Stevie Whitson; a lighting designer from New York. Stevie worked closely with DV8 and was renowned for working in experimental theatre. Paule recalls: “Stevie was this larger than life figure who was just so passionate about theatre. He had a really interesting way of working and he managed to create some stunning looks on stage”. It was Stevie who made Paule really think about her career and the direction she wanted to take. She recalls: “Stevie would always call me up to get lamps for the show but stopped asking me to relight them. This upset me as I thought I was doing a pretty decent job. So when I pressed as to why he didn’t ask me anymore, he literally turned around and said ‘Just f*ck off and do your own work!’. Although this might sound incredibly rude, it was actually really inspiring as it made me think that I could actually work in this industry on my own designs, as opposed to imitating the work of others”.

Click here to read part two.