An Interview with Projection and Lighting Designer Rob Siler

Projection and Lighting Designer Rob Siler talks to us about the inspiration and process of bringing the visual components of Becoming Dr. Ruth to the stage.

Orlando Shakes: How do you approach the design of a project or production?

Rob Siler: With a theatre production it always begins with the script, with the story. I take a fair amount of time on my own exploring the beats of the story as well as the various themes it explores. After discussing with the rest of the creative team and the director what we collectively find important to highlight within our particular production, I gather visual research of paintings, drawings, and/or photographs that I feel fit both the visual style and the themes of the play.

Rob Siler’s Visual Research for Becoming Dr. Ruth

This research is then shared with the rest of the team as a way to illustrate my initial design ideas. From there it becomes about developing the lighting/projector paperwork, content, palettes, and ideas that will come together with the work of the rest of the team to create the show the audience sees.

Orlando Shakes: Did your background in lighting design help transition into projection design?

Rob Siler: It certainly has impacted my work as a projection designer, yes. As you hinted, I started my career as a lighting designer and added projection design only about five years ago.

Largely, projection design is a relatively young field that has seen recent massive growth and change. While projection design has been used in concert design since the late 1960s, it has only started to become a prominent part of theatre over the past decade and a half. Being a projection designer was not a career path that I was aware of when I started my training, but I’ve been lucky to study with and be around some great designers. I have always really enjoyed the ways that light can interact with a room or a set design. Lighting can reveal and also manipulate the textures, colors, and depth of a set. As a result, I have found that I am really interested in avoiding projecting onto traditional screens and instead endlessly fascinated with projecting onto the set itself with all of its various levels, textures, colors, and shapes.

Orlando Shakes: When were you brought into the creative process of Becoming Dr. Ruth and what were your first impressions of the play?

Rob Siler: I was approached about doing Becoming Dr. Ruth back in April 2019 and we had our first design brainstorm session as a creative team in June 2019. It has been a very collaborative process throughout.

This is actually my second time working on a production of Becoming Dr. Ruth so there was an instant familiarity when I re-read the play for this production at Orlando Shakes. The experience was like catching up with a friend who you last saw a year ago.

From my very first read through ever of the play though I remember being absolutely blown away by Dr. Ruth’s life: what she had experienced, what she overcame, and what she created. I had heard of Dr. Ruth and was vaguely familiar with her work as a sex therapist and media personality, but I had no idea of the events of her youth and adulthood that preceded that work. She is a truly remarkable person.

Orlando Shakes: What is the hardest part of the process?

Rob Siler: The hardest part is probably taking the initial visual ideas and figuring out how to physically create those on-stage. There are a lot of choices that need to be made as to the type and placement of lights, projectors, video screens, computers, and software in order to tell the story and create the visuals that have been discussed as a creative team. Each story and production are different and almost always requires a unique utilization of space and gear. Figuring out how to best use and place these tools is simultaneously exciting, but also the most challenging part because the decisions you make during this part of the process will impact how you tell the story later.

Orlando Shakes: Was there anything unique about Becoming Dr. Ruth that was new to you?

Rob Siler: From both times working on this play, I’ve found that there is a particular amount of nuance necessary to the design of biographical shows that isn’t always present in other types of productions. Especially with Dr. Ruth, I’ve noticed that it is particularly important to avoid showing the real Dr. Ruth on-stage via projections next to the actress. While there are many great pieces of content (pictures, videos) showing her in many of the events and situations she describes to the audience, it can quickly break the “reality” that we are trying to create of Dr. Ruth talking to us in her living room simply because our eyes and attention become drawn to the real life Dr. Ruth instead. Upstaging Dr. Ruth with Dr. Ruth is easy to do and best to avoid.

Orlando Shakes: How was it decided what/where/when the projection design would be shown on stage?

Rob Siler: This was a collaboration between the director, Cynthia White, the Set Designer, Bert Scott, and myself. During the initial design process, we talked a lot about the shape of the space we wanted to surround Dr. Ruth on-stage and where projection content could exist within that space.

As Bert explored different shapes and styles for the set design, he and I talked about things like the angles of the walls, the size of the windows, and the color of the set so that our collective work was cohesive. With Cynthia, we spent most of our time discussing the content and its style. There are a lot of very specific pieces of content that are built into the script and need to be shown, but also many other potential moments where projections could add to the storytelling. We discussed which of these other moments to explore, the visual look and style of the various images and videos, and also where on-stage to place the projection content.

Orlando Shakes: How do you work with the set and costume designers when it comes to developing the projections and lighting?

Rob Siler: It is all about creating a cohesive world together as a creative team that tells a story. As I mentioned before, the biggest part of this is getting on the same page as your fellow designers about what themes or ideas we are trying to collectively present. Sometimes this process leads me to ask a set designer to shift a wall slightly, so I have a better projector or lighting angle. Sometimes I end up asking for a costume piece to get dyed slightly darker, so that the actor will better contrast the color of a set piece or another costume piece. And sometimes one of them will come to me with a great idea for some video content or how to light a particular moment in the show. When you are all unified in your vision though, these conversations are hardly ever insulting or invasive. They are collaborative, and it results in a stronger production.

Orlando Shakes: What was your experience like working on Becoming Dr. Ruth as the lighting and projection designer?

Rob Siler: I’ll let you know when I’m finally finished. But in all seriousness, it has been a wonderful experience so far. I enjoy being both the lighting and projection designer on the same show. I was initially drawn to lighting design because I view it as the finishing touches on a production. And I have always been interested in the complete melding of lighting and projections, and not knowing where one stops and the other begins. By working on both together, I feel like the two designs combine to become a part of the same patina covering the stage in color, texture, and light. And the team at Orlando Shakes has been wonderful in helping me to realize my ideas on this production.

Orlando Shakes: How do the projections assist in storytelling in theater? Particularly Becoming Dr. Ruth?

Rob Siler: Projections fill an interesting role in the theatre. They can be as “real” and informational as a set, but as emotional and ephemeral as lighting. For Dr. Ruth, a big convention that is established in the script itself is that Dr. Ruth has personal pictures, objects, and memories that are then enlarged and presented to the audience via projections as she talks about them. So, a lot of the projection content of the show is informational and contains pictures or videos of the people, places, and world events that she discusses with the audience.

Orlando Shakes: Do you have any predictions on the future of projection design used in theater?

Rob Siler: To be honest, I’m not sure I truly can predict anything. Technology has been changing at such a rapid pace that it is hard to predict what all will be capable in 2020 let alone in five years from now. That being said, I am very excited by the advances being made in 3D projection mapping and live camera feed integration into live performance.

Orlando Shakes: What can audiences expect from the show? What would you like for audiences to take away from the show?

Rob Siler: Audiences can expect an engaging, emotionally charged story that is filled with humor and some bits of theatre magic. Dr. Ruth says on-stage at the end of the play, “This is me,” and I hope audiences leave with further insight into the life of this remarkable woman.

About Rob Siler

Credits include: Off-Broadway: Occupied Territories (59E59). Regional (Select credits): She A Gem, Bhoomi, Night Train 57 (The Kennedy Center); Newsies, Damascus, Becoming Dr. Ruth, Disgraced, Outside Mullingar (Florida Repertory); Radamisto, Erminia, The Enchanted Forest (Opera Lafayette); Bonnie & Clyde, Urinetown (Monumental Theatre Company); Orfeo ed Euridice, Orphée aux enfers (Maryland Opera Studio); Floyd Collins, Into The Woods (Weathervane Repertory Theatre); Les Misérables, Red (Riverside Theatre). Assistant: Broadway, The Kennedy Center, Tuacahn Amphitheater, Olney Theatre Center, Studio Theatre. M.F.A.: University of Maryland, B.F.A.: Shenandoah University. Proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829. Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida. www.silerlights.com

Featured Image: Scenic design rendering by Bert Scott.