Gerhard BERENT photo by Nigel A. JAMES
Spot On! A Very Light Life
There are many ingredients which go to make up
good theatre. One needs, amongst other things, a very good story, exciting
scenery, make up to produce the unrecognizable, and, of course, an audience to
match. But, without one vital component, the stage as we know it would be
lifeless and dull, and, this magic component that makes all of the difference
is the lighting; and, as Gerhard Berent knows only too well, stage lighting
means very much more than a bulb and the flicking of a switch!
Gerhard saw the light very many years ago, and
his company provided all that was needed for the perfect illumination of those
moments of magic that build on the fantasy of that which is about to come true!
But, of course, there comes a time in most
people’s life when a change of direction is necessitated by the number of years
that one has to one’s credit. Most people give up! But not Gerhard. He is now more active than
ever! As a freelance journalist and
photographer, he now writes for the theatre lighting trade press. And, his articles and essays are just as
illuminating as his lights used to be! And, this has to do with the style of
his writing.
And style, in part, is ingredients, too. His life, until now, wasn’t narrow at all, in fact, it had angles
of excitement that provided the broad base of experience that shows in his
work. His life was theatre, it was
family, it was traveling, it was reading,
and, it was studying. And, apart from his native German, Gerhard is fluent in
English and Italian, too. French, he
says, will be his next language! And,
what’s next is that which is now.
Gerhard has no intention of bringing down the final curtain. The last act will happen when it happens.
A Village Stage - Ink by Nigel A. JAMES
