Leading Light with…Paule Constable – Part Two

The Street of Crocodiles at the National Theatre.

This was the motivation that Paule needed and she soon found herself taking on her first paid gig with 784 Scotland. It was here she met renowned designer Rae Smith who Paule would work with numerous times over the years. She states: “It was fantastic meeting with Rae as the way she talked about theatre made real sense to me. It wasn’t jargon or numbers or technical terms; it was her own language. This inspired me to develop my own way of talking about theatre; one which made sense to me”. Following 784 Scotland, Paule then lit and toured shows with Complicite. One of these was The Street of Crocodiles which she deems as her “big break”. She comments: “Street was a huge success; much bigger than I anticipated. It ran at the National and then I found myself at aged 26 being nominated for an Olivier. It was quite surreal!”. It also meant that Paule was now recognised as an emerging lighting designer and her work was finally being viewed on a bigger scale: “The show opened so many doors for me. I was taken on by an agent meaning I had someone to represent me for this first time. It also meant that I went from being a relatively unknown to having people now want to work with me – they were even returning my letters!”.

The Dark Materials won Paule her first Olivier.

Paule continued working closely with Complicite as well as branching out into other productions. This included operatic shows and she worked extensively at the Royal Opera House, with her first design being Rigoletto for David McVicar. Since then, she has continued to work in opera and has even co-directed productions. She states: “I love opera as it gives you a freedom that traditional theatre simply doesn’t afford. Opera seems to be less scared of designers that aren’t a big name as such. They are less worried about the credits and more interested in the artist and what they can bring to the role. Similarly, opera allows a much wider scale of expression. You can be really bold aesthetically and this potential has had a huge influence on the rest of my design”.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has earned Paule an Olivier and Tony Award.

Across her career, Paule has won four Olivier Awards, two Tony Awards as well as the LA Drama Critics Circle Award. Her extensive list of credits include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, War Horse, Sleeping Beauty, This House, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Weir, Elegy, Happy Days, Herons, Blasted, Red Shoes, Clybourne Park, The Chalk Garden, Waves, His Dark Materials, RSC Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies. Looking at a CV like Paule’s, it reflects the dream résumé for any lighting designer; she’s done it all and then done it again. Yet what has allowed her to take on so many incredible productions and achieved the highest recognition in the industry time and time again? For her, there’s no big secret: “It’s all about relationships. My entire career has been based on a handful of relationships: with Complicite, Rae Smith, Katie Mitchell (theatre director), Vicky Mortimer (Designer), Marianne Elliott, Michael Grandage, Rufus Norris and David McVicar. It’s all about building those strong working partnerships and singling out people who you want to work with time and time again. With all of these, we’ve grown as artists together and we seem to be able to get the most out of each other. Whoever I work with, whether it’s Rufus Norris or Marianne Elliot, we have a strong working relationship and that’s fundamental to me and my work”.

Paule with WL’s Managing Director Bryan Raven at this year’s Tonic Awards

Alongside her obvious lighting talents, there is another thing that Paule is renowned for: promoting the role of women in theatre. She is only one of two women to have received an Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design (the other being Natasha Chivers’ whose Leading Light you can read here) and has always advocated the role of women in theatre. She comments: “Women still aren’t represented as well as they should be in theatre. It’s a very male-dominated industry and we need to change that. When I began working in the business, I started in rock ‘n’ roll gigs. For a young woman, this was just awful. You were constantly cat-called and it really was an intimidating environment. Moving into theatre, people’s attitudes improved mildly but it was still uncomfortable”. Earlier this month, Paule was presented with a Tonic Theatre Award – an awards ceremony that celebrates women’s role in theatre. It was presented to her by WL’s Managing Director Bryan Raven. So now that there is an organisation championing women in the arts, is the industry no longer sexist? Paule has an answer: “Not at all. It has got better but certain attitudes and prejudices still exist, sadly. A lot of it is subconscious sexism that might leak through a particular comment or in a conversation with a certain individual. All we can keep doing is raising the issue, making sure people are aware of it and making sure we call it out when it does happen”.

There’s also another area in which Paule remains passionate: politics. Following her politically geared education, she still believes that theatre can do more to engage with the world around us. She states: “There is a huge lack of politics within contemporary theatre. The stories we tell on stage really matter and it needs to be a space where we can have some sort of debate. The best type of theatre is that which makes you think and I actively seek out projects that have an important political and social matter behind them”.

The iconic War Horse, for which Paule won a Tony Award.

Paule is now being called back into the tech box as Seventeen is about to start. It’s one of the first shows she’s lighting this year, before she begins work on the highly anticipated Angels in America which will run at the National Theatre. Add this to the fact that Curious Incident and Red Shoes are currently on tour then it seems that Paule is in for yet another busy year. Before we run, she leaves me with some words of wisdom for the next generation of LDs: “Find your safe space. By this I don’t mean somewhere safe where you can be complacent and not be challenged. Rather, I mean somewhere where you can be who you want to be. Where you feel it’s safe to experiment and you aren’t worried about being judged or mocked. Once you find this, you’ll progress as an artist and really achieve your potential”.  I don’t ask where Paule’s ‘safe space’ is. However, wherever it is, it’s seen the birth of some of the most original and innovative lighting designs ever seen on stage.

Photos courtesy of Adam Bennett, Brinkhoff/Mögenburg, Cinema Treasures, Ivan Kyncl, John Haynes, Joan Marcus and Simon Annand.