Applications are now open for the 2012 Rory Dempster Internship for Lighting Designers.
Applications are now open for the 2012 Rory Dempster Internship for Lighting Designers. The annual internship, jointly established by the Sydney Theatre Company, Opera Australia and Belvoir, is for young and emerging lighting designers, in memory of Rory Dempster’s passion skill and expertise. Applicants must be under 30 years of age and be in the first 5 years of their professional practice. A distinguished Lighting Designer, Dempster worked extensively in Australia and internationally in a career spanning more than 3 decades. Dempster sadly passed away in 2004, having worked with Andy Phillips at the Royal Court in London during the 1960s and 1970s (establishing the Court’s ‘white light’ principle – that nothing was more important on the stage than the actor’s face), as well as some of the best playwrights of the day, including Trevor Griffiths, Michael Frayn, Howard Brenton, Athol Fugard and David Hare. A lover of theatre, Rory subsequently became involved in other theatre related projects. He was the founding partner of lighting rental company White Light; he was part of the team that created the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith; he was deeply involved with Field Day in Northern Ireland; and he worked with David Hare at the Nottingham Playhouse. In the early 1990’s Rory moved to Australia, continuing to concentrate on projects which interested him, forming a close working relationship with director Neil Armfield and working extensively with Belvoir, Sydney Theatre Company and Opera Australia. The recipient of the 2012 Rory Dempster Internship will be given a stipend to work in secondment with a leading lighting designer for one production in the 2012 season of Belvoir, Opera Australia or Sydney Theatre Company. Applications close 5pm Friday 16th December 2011 For more information, click here Image by Max Wolfe