Chao-Yu Tsai
Lighting Designer — RHINOCERSOS
Chao-Yu is a lighting designer for theatre, concert, dance, magic shows and everything in between. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Taipei National University of the Arts, Department of Theatrical Design and Technology in Taiwan. He is especially interested in collaborating on work that transcends the boundaries of any particular genre, he also believes that all the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow. In 2017, Chao-Yu received World Stage Design Emerging Lighting Design Silver Award for his work “ Rhinoceros”.
Chao-Yu Tsai is originally from Tainan, Taiwan, received his MFA in Lighting Design from University of California San Diego (UCSD) and is currently based in Los Angeles, CA.
RHINOCEROS was directed by Will Detlefsen for UCSD in November 2015.
The lighting concept chosen for Rhinoceros is to use a bold color to create contrast between Berenger(main character) and the rhinoceros. I chose a primary green to show the various character transformations into rhinoceros. A followspot was used to isolate Berenger with a contrasting blue, as he never turns into rhinoceros. Rhinoceros is an enormous play on many different levels. The biggest challenge of designing this play was how to use light to make a small black box theatre, appear wider than it actually is. Because of that, I used sidelight and diagonal backlight to sculpt everything in this space. I also used exaggerated shadows to emphasize the forced perspective established through the scenic design. This made the space appear wider and more absurd.
