DESIGNING THE LAST DAYS OF DR. BEARING: INTEGRATING PSYCHOLOGY’S COLOR THEORY IN THE THEATRICAL LIGHTING DESIGN OF WIT

This thesis is a combination of a lighting design, informed by psychology’s color theory, for Angelo State University’s production of Wit by Margaret Edson, directed by Ashley Meyer, and quantitative data on the influence of the lighting design. This thesis presents the question: Can the lighting design impact audiences’ emotional experience of the play? Using a survey, audience members provided feedback on the influence of lighting on both their emotional connection to the content of the play and their overall experience. The results of the survey support that lighting can influence audiences’ emotional connection to a production.