e first performance facility to use predominantly electricity (Bellman 1967). Electricity, while safer, was difficult to dim. Technicians manually submerged cables in a solution of salt water to break the current and manipulate intensity. An insulated wire with a metal plate at one end was submerged at the bottom of a non-reactive container; the other wire with a metal weight attached was lowered until the two contacts touched to complete the circuit. The light dimmed as the contacts moved away from one Earls 6another (McCandless 1958). Sir Henry Irving, of the Lyceum theatre, regularly tested this process before each performance. His practice led to the tradition of dimming the lights before curtain (Hewitt 1952). New electric systems also diminished the warmth audiences had grown accustomed to with gas lighting. These inconveniences were factors in the development of theatres that specifically accommodated electricity.It wasn't until 1882 in Munich that a theatre was built with electricity in mind (Leacroft 1984). By this time most pre-electricity performance spaces were converted. As had been the case with gas, theatres were responsible for their own power sources. A town theatre often possessed the latest amenities before the general public. This left the theatre owners to create their own gas lines and eventually their own generators for the demanding power requirements of performance lighting (Heffner & Selden 1959). Earls 7GadgetsThe theatre has sought command over light for hundreds of years. The first dimming devices were nothing more then candles and 17th century house hold items. Even at that time inventions were complex. Nicola Sabbattini had a device specifically for showing hell."Let A be the pot in which we pass thepiece of torch BC, long enough to let Bcome out of the top and C remain belowthe pot. When the time comes to use it,some one must hold part C in his hands,the torch having been lighted at B. Wh...
