Theatrical Lighting has had a long history of development and reinvention. This technology alone has affected theater and theater culture like no other. Theater Moves into the Limelight Western theater has its deepest roots in the Medieval Mystery Plays which came out of the Catholic Churches liturgy- a form and convention very similar to what we have today. It is in this context that modern theater developed. But modern theater virtually owes its soul to technology more than the Catholic Church.
Modern theater is technology just as much as it is acting and staging.
Without technology theater would still be primarily an outdoor, daytime event performed in some simplistic setting attended by small groups of people. Candles were first used to illuminate indoor theater. With the advent of gas light in the early 1800's theater was able to be performed before even larger seated audiences. At this time there was another technology that was at work in theatrical lighting worth mentioning. The resulting gas burned brightly when lit.