Leading Light with…Prema Mehta – Part One

Lighting Designer Prema Mehta

Today’s Leading Light has been a long time coming. I was meant to meet Prema mid-last year but her busy schedule (or as she describes it, “her life on a train”) meant we were unable to tie down a date. Therefore, when she emailed me at the start of the week saying she had a free afternoon, it was a case of dropping everything and ensuring that we finally sat down to have a chat.

As always with Leading Light, we start at the beginning. For Prema, this is Orpington in Kent – although her family’s origins extend far beyond the South East county. She explains: “Although I have Indian parents, the real irony is that they were both born in East Africa! I always remember asking as a child if that made me and my brother African! Mum lived in India for a short while before coming over to the UK. With dad, he was the first person of his family to come over to Britain. He made the journey with his father when he was only 16.  Sadly, my grandfather died within two weeks of them arriving so you can imagine how daunting this was for him – a new country, a new language, a whole new culture and all by yourself”. Prema’s dad soon met Prema’s mother and they settled down in Orpington. Prema explains: “Although I was born in Orpington, I only lived there until I was six. When I was growing up, it was a completely different time and the area was slightly racist. Mum and dad tried their hardest to shield us from it but, in the end, they decided it was best to leave”.  And their choice destination was the capital. Prema states: “Mum and dad chose London as it was much more multicultural and diverse. It was also a lot more welcoming and a much better place for me and my brother to grow up. That said, I do know that Orpington has changed dramatically since I was a child. It’s a very green area now and very much a commuter town”.

A very young Prema!

Growing up in London, there was a clear divide between Prema and her brother. She comments: “My brother was very medical and wanted to be a doctor whereas I was always the arty one. I loved painting and I loved art. That said, theatre was basically non-existent in my childhood”. In fact, Prema didn’t go to the theatre until she was 16. Her first experience was seeing Blood Brothers as part of a school trip. She recalls: “I had never stepped foot inside a theatre before but, come the end of the show, I was weeping! As an audience member, I had my world transformed and it completely blew away my expectations of what theatre was. It definitely sparked my interest so you could say that Willy Russell is the reason I’m sat here today!”. Although the show left a mark on Prema, it was mainly the performances as opposed to the technical aspects: “I wasn’t really aware of what was going on behind the scenes. But theatre was something I’d finally been introduced to”.

So what was Prema like at school? She’s quick to admit: “I was a bit of a teacher’s pet. I was one of those people who just got their head down and grafted – maybe I should have been a bit cooler! That said, I was never what you’d call a straight A student but I did work as hard as I could and gave it my all. That was an attitude that was instilled into me growing up; so long as I gave it my all and tried my best then that was more than enough”. During this time, it seems that the initial visit to Blood Brothers had begun to slowly influence Prema. She comments: “I decided to study Drama at GCSE and my interest continued to grow – to the point where I took Theatre Studies at A Level. I wasn’t exactly sure what interested me in theatre, but there was something about it. I was still quite interested in art and didn’t really know anything about the stage”.

Blood Brothers was Prema’s first theatre-going experience

But it seems that Prema’s fate may have been decided for her by the other students. She explains: “In Theatre Studies, everyone wanted to be an actor! Whilst I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do, I knew for a fact I did not want to act. That said, I needed to get marks somehow. There was an opportunity to light and, without thinking, I just put my hand up! I didn’t realise it at the time but this was to be a key moment”. Prema soon became known as the course’s ‘go to lighting person’. She comments: “I ended up lighting everyone’s individual performances. For my own assessment, I lit a statue! My initial intrigue was encouraged by my tutor who was great. He gave me some money to hire five par cans, a couple of profiles, primary coloured gels and even a gobo! At the time, this was more than enough to play with and it really helped me experiment”. It seems that Prema’s interest in lighting stemmed from her early interest in art. She explains: “I felt that, with lighting, you had the opportunity to be creative. The stage was a canvas almost and you could bring your own style to it.

Prema was about to finish Sixth Form and had to decide what to do next. Her decision, similar to her first experience with lighting, was to come entirely by accident. She recalls: “I was sat at a computer and accidentally googled Guildhall – it genuinely was an accident! I had no idea what it was but the more I read about their Theatre Course, the more interested I became”. Yet this interest wasn’t met with support from those around her: “I was the Treasurer of the Student Union at my school (which was somewhat ironic as I hated maths). As a result, when the Principal heard that I was applying for drama school, she dragged me into her office and asked me what I was thinking! She said I should go into politics or economics which would lead to a ‘real job’”. That said, there was some support from Prema’s school: “My A Level tutor David Kinder was the one who said I should go to drama school. He clearly recognised something within me and wanted to encourage that. He also gave me some really great advice. He said in this industry, I needed to be like a shark. He said sharks always have to keep moving forward and, if they don’t, they sink. I think this is fantastic advice for anyone working in theatre and something that really stuck with me”.

Prema during her time at Guildhall

Prema applied for Guildhall and was accepted. However, she still hadn’t made up her mind about lighting: “At the time, the course was very broad, which actually suited me. In all honesty, I didn’t know what careers existed in theatre and the course offered the opportunity to experiment in lighting, sound, stage management, props, wardrobe – basically everything!”. During her three years, Prema really found her feet – yet lighting was something that didn’t come naturally. She recalls: “There were a couple of guys in my year who were known as ‘the lighting people’. They were renowned for just being great”. Knowing she wanted to work in design, yet not sure in which field, Prema embarked on two work placements: one with renowned Set Designer Es Devlin and another with a certain Neil Austin (you can read his Leading Light here). Prema states: “I spent a week at the Donmar with Neil which was a very interesting experience. On the first day he said he was going to do his best to put me off lighting! What he actually meant was that he wanted to be completely honest and show me how tough this industry is and the reality of working in it. Looking back now, every word he said was the complete truth. Ultimately, this is a difficult career to carve, the money’s not amazing and you have to work exceptionally hard.  Whilst I really appreciate what Neil said, it didn’t put me off! My problem (or possibly strength) is that when someone tells me how difficult something is, it usually makes me want to do it even more!”.

As a student, Prema went on a work placement with Neil Austin

While Prema’s placement with Neil was useful in terms of lighting, her placement with Es was to prove invaluable in terms of her approach to the rest of her career. Prema remarks: “When I worked with Es, she was just peaking. She taught me how to be both a freelancer and a woman in the industry. Yet this wasn’t by sitting me down and reeling off a list of guidelines. It was more through observation. I watched the way she behaved and dealt with situations and how she held herself. At the time, it was great training but I don’t think I realised that until much later on”.

However, set design wasn’t for Prema. She remarks: “My perception of set design was that you could put together a model prior to a production and know what it would look like from the get go. With lighting, it was a bit scarier. You don’t really know what a space is like and how this will respond until you’re in it. It was much more of a challenge and, when you’re 21, you’re all up for that. My opinion was the scarier the better as I had nothing to lose”. With this mentality, Prema returned to Guildhall where she would go on to light a couple of shows. She comments: “I was determined to light some productions and quickly became bitten by the bug. The more I lit, the more I realised that I now wanted to be a lighting designer. Come the end of the three years, I had learned an incredible amount and was ready to start building my career”.

Click here to read Part Two