Alan Symonds
Encyclopedia
Alan Symonds was the Technical Director
of the Harvard College Theaters for many years. He entered Harvard College
in the 1960s, started participating in technical theater during his freshman orientation period, and soon found himself spending much more time on technical theater than on his studies. He participated in work on the student level, but also started working with professional companies, particularly the Boston Ballet
, for whom he designed low cost portable smoke generators, and the American Repertory Theater.
's penguin exhibit lighting design, and was a primary consultant in the redesign of the dilapidated theatre which originally housed the Hasty Pudding Theatricals
at Harvard University
.
Symonds focused on lighting and set design, education, and safety. He became well known as an architectural lighting
consultant, bringing the McCandless Method to lighting spaces not meant for theater. He was a volunteer fireman, and brought that knowledge back into theater production safety. (His "fire speech," incorporating exposition of the mathematical relationship between rate of combustion and available oxygen, together with the infamous threat of a lifetime ban should "so much as a piccolo" be carried during an evacuation, earned him particular notoriety.) Symonds also worked as a freelance theatre consultant for several theatre construction and renovation projects, including the new theatre and scene shop facilities at King Philip Regional High School in Wrentham, MA.
His garrulous personal approach to work and his remarkably broad areas of competence earned him a cult following of theater lovers, many of whom moved on to become successful professionals in the fields of theater and film, with great debt to his influence. He was ubiquitous at Harvard, having his hands not only in the productions of the Harvard Radcliffe Dramatic Club
, but also designing lights for the Hasty Pudding Theatricals
, being an integral part of the Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert & Sullivan Players, and giving technical advice to productions staged by the Harvard Law School
. In 1995, he founded the Freshman Arts Program, to ensure that students who wanted to practice the arts at Harvard would have ample knowledge of the resources at their disposal. He taught introductory and advanced technical theater to Harvard undergraduates. In 1998, a new position was created for him at Harvard, Technical Director for Harvard College Theatre Programs under the Office for the Arts at Harvard, to acknowledge his absolute essentiality in the Harvard theater environment.
Symonds died on June 20, 2006 at age 59, as the result of heart failure.
Obituaries:
Interviews and additional sources:
Technical director
The Technical Director or Technical Manager is usually a senior technical person within a software company, film studio, theatrical company or television studio...
of the Harvard College Theaters for many years. He entered Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
in the 1960s, started participating in technical theater during his freshman orientation period, and soon found himself spending much more time on technical theater than on his studies. He participated in work on the student level, but also started working with professional companies, particularly the Boston Ballet
Boston Ballet
Boston Ballet, founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams, was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. Boston Ballet’s national and international reputation developed under the leadership of Artistic Directors Violette Verdy , Bruce Marks , and Anna-Marie Holmes...
, for whom he designed low cost portable smoke generators, and the American Repertory Theater.
Career
In the course of his career, Symonds was a part of the lighting crew at Woodstock. He often told the students he worked with about pouring ice cubes into the spotlights there just to keep them from overheating. He is also responsible for the New England AquariumNew England Aquarium
The New England Aquarium is an aquarium located in Boston, Massachusetts.In addition to the main aquarium building, attractions at the New England Aquarium include the Simons IMAX Theatre and the New England Aquarium Whale Watch, which operates from April through November...
's penguin exhibit lighting design, and was a primary consultant in the redesign of the dilapidated theatre which originally housed the Hasty Pudding Theatricals
Hasty Pudding Theatricals
The Hasty Pudding Theatricals, known informally simply as The Pudding, is a theatrical student society at Harvard University, known for its burlesque musicals and for its status as the oldest collegiate theatrical organization in the United States...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
Symonds focused on lighting and set design, education, and safety. He became well known as an architectural lighting
Architectural lighting design
Architectural lighting design is a field within architecture and architectural engineering that concerns itself primarily with the illumination of buildings. The objective of architectural lighting design is to obtain sufficient light for the purposes of the building, balancing factors of initial...
consultant, bringing the McCandless Method to lighting spaces not meant for theater. He was a volunteer fireman, and brought that knowledge back into theater production safety. (His "fire speech," incorporating exposition of the mathematical relationship between rate of combustion and available oxygen, together with the infamous threat of a lifetime ban should "so much as a piccolo" be carried during an evacuation, earned him particular notoriety.) Symonds also worked as a freelance theatre consultant for several theatre construction and renovation projects, including the new theatre and scene shop facilities at King Philip Regional High School in Wrentham, MA.
His garrulous personal approach to work and his remarkably broad areas of competence earned him a cult following of theater lovers, many of whom moved on to become successful professionals in the fields of theater and film, with great debt to his influence. He was ubiquitous at Harvard, having his hands not only in the productions of the Harvard Radcliffe Dramatic Club
Harvard Radcliffe Dramatic Club
The Harvard Radcliffe Dramatic Club, founded in 1908, is an umbrella theater organization at Harvard College with the purpose of assisting all theatrical projects at the college. It is mainly concerned with productions at the Loeb Drama Center, which it shares with the American Repertory Theater...
, but also designing lights for the Hasty Pudding Theatricals
Hasty Pudding Theatricals
The Hasty Pudding Theatricals, known informally simply as The Pudding, is a theatrical student society at Harvard University, known for its burlesque musicals and for its status as the oldest collegiate theatrical organization in the United States...
, being an integral part of the Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert & Sullivan Players, and giving technical advice to productions staged by the Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
. In 1995, he founded the Freshman Arts Program, to ensure that students who wanted to practice the arts at Harvard would have ample knowledge of the resources at their disposal. He taught introductory and advanced technical theater to Harvard undergraduates. In 1998, a new position was created for him at Harvard, Technical Director for Harvard College Theatre Programs under the Office for the Arts at Harvard, to acknowledge his absolute essentiality in the Harvard theater environment.
Symonds died on June 20, 2006 at age 59, as the result of heart failure.
Obituaries:
- Harvard University Gazette, 2006
- Harvard Crimson, Juse 30, 2006
- Boston.Com (Boston Globe Online) Obituary
- Stage Source
- Boston Herald Obituaries
- USITT
Interviews and additional sources:
- Office of the Arts at Harvard Biography
- http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~spectrum/past_spectrums/2004/winter04/Symonds.htm
- http://www.laboratorium.net/archives/AlanSymonds.html