ABSTRACT
The first footlights were candles. Footlights were named for exactly what they sound like: lights near your feet. Footlights are traditionally located on the downstage edge of the stage and/or apron. They focus upstage toward the back wall, pointing up into the actors’ faces from below. The “invention” of footlights was a changing point for lighting in the theatre. Suddenly there was some control over the lighting. Putting candles on the edge of the stage wasn’t enough. It was figured out pretty quickly that if you put some sort of reflector behind the candle (meaning between the audience and the actor) the light would be brighter. It also wouldn’t blind the audience. These reflectors became decorative, and that is how we primarily remember them.
