Pantomime Podcast: Day Eight - Lighting Plot

Wyvern Theatre

Rehearsals for the Wyvern Theatre's annual pantomime began on Monday 25 November. Keith Chegwin, who returns to Swindon's number one entertainment venue, will ensure giant laughs will be had by the entire audience from Saturday 7 December 2013 to Sunday 5 January 2014. As the cast continue to rehearse, Lighting Designer Wayne Dowdeswell is working on the show's lighting in the main auditorium. Wayne trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He spent several seasons at Contact Theatre, Manchester before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company where he lit many productions for The Other Place, The Pit and Barbican Theatres. He was Lighting Supervisor for the Swan Theatre where his designs include: The Fair Maid of the West, Every Man in his Humour, A Jovial Crew, Titus Andronicus, The Jew of Malta, The Duchess of Malfi, Edward II, The Seagull, Tamburlaine the Great, The Country Wife, The Roman Actor, Sejanus. RSC lighting designs in the West End include: The Shakespeare Revue (Vaudeville), The Cherry Orchard (Albery), The 'Jacobethan' Season (Gielgud), The Tamer Tamed (Gielgud), The 'Gunpowder' Season (Trafalgar Studios), Breakfast with Mugabe (Duchess), The Canterbury Tales (Gielgud). Wayne has always maintained a thriving freelance design career; productions include: The Vanek Plays (London & Prague), Medea (Wyndham’s and New York), The Birthday Party, Not the End of the World (Bristol Old Vic), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Life of Stuff, Whisky Galore!, Servant o’ Twa Maisters, (Pitlochry Festival), Dr Faustus, The School for Scandal, Volpone, The Duchess of Malfi (Stage on Screen, Greenwich Theatre), Peter Pan, Cinderella, Aladdin (Qdos), Private Peaceful (UK tour & Theatre Royal, Haymarket) Godiva Awakes! (Imagineer Productions), Rising Damp (UK tour) His designs for Opera include: The Cunning Little Vixen, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Don Giovanni, Madam Butterfly, Falstaff, Katya Kabanova, La Boheme (Longborough Festival Opera), Eugene Onegin, Rinaldo, Madama Butterfly (Grange Park), The Mikado, (D'Oyly Carte, Savoy), Lucia di Lammermoor, (Scottish Opera and Mariinsky, St. Petersburg). Wayne received Olivier Award nominations for Edward II, Tamburlaine the Great and Medea.