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Mbulelo Mpofu, Showbiz Reporter

THE month of March is widely-known as Women’s Month and the gist is to celebrate women’s contributions and achievements.

Bulawayo boasts of its own superwomen. One such woman is lighting designer Mildred Moyo who is championing a Bulawayo-led revolution around the power of light.

The city’s most electric woman is the face behind the “Lights out workshop” and a Zoom Masterclass series where she interviews captains of the industry with the hope of teaching those interested in the trade.

Moyo, a self-taught lighting designer was born at Phelandaba Clinic and attended quite a number of schools which include Ngwengwe Primary School, Amhlophe High School and also Shashane Secondary School.

The lighting bae, as Mildred is known, was not always fascinated by light, but instead did what most, if not all children do which is attending basically any class to learn different trades before they make a decision on which career path to follow.

“I grew up like the ordinary child next door as I tried dancing and theatre as an actress, but that didn’t work for me. Eventually, I followed the light and my love for lights has grown ever since, hence my 18-year career in professional design lighting.

“My lighting design journey started from a theatrical setting and this has shaped me to be the person that I am today since I have a basis for basic lighting knowledge,” said Moyo.

She said the masterclasses were necessitated by the need to professionally train stage light designers in Zimbabwe.

“These Masterclasses were a product of me realising that many aspiring stage lighting designers are in need of professional training, yet there are no platforms for them. Following this, another series of lighting workshops was launched in 2020 as online training sessions featuring lighting professionals from all over the world.

“In 2021, these developed into in-person sessions called Lights-Out Stage Lighting Training. The inaugural Lights-Out training was held in Bulawayo in December 2021, and the follow-up workshops in other cities and towns will be held throughout 2022.

“The aim of these training sessions is that at the end, participants should know the basics of stage lighting design enough to be able to design, set up, program, and run a show in a community theatre. We are also targeting photographers and event managers to help them stage better sets for their shows,” she said.

 

The Phenomenal Lighting Masterclass is a voluntary platform for skills exchange and has hosted some of the world’s greatest lighting designers such as Patrick Woodroffe OBE RDI (UK), Paule Constable (UK), Hansjorg Schmidt (Germany), Erich Bertti (Brazil) and Michael Curry (USA), a production and puppet designer, among others.

Moyo established Phenomenal Lighting and Power Solutions in 2011 with the name of her company stemming from Patrick Woodroffe being a “phenomenal lighting designer”.

Phenomenal Lighting and Power Solutions is a provider of stage lighting, housing and solar power installations and is the only stage lighting company in Zimbabwe owned by a female professional.

Patrick Woodroffe is an English lighting designer working in the worlds of music, dance, fashion, art and architecture. He has worked for Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Lady Gaga, Adele, Stevie Wonder, Rod Steward, Elton John, as well as being the creative director of the Rolling Stones live shows since 1982.

Moyo said she owes her success to Patrick Woodroffe who has taught her a lot about lighting design since their first interaction a decade ago.

“Getting in touch with the godfather of design lighting, Patrick Woodroffe was a turning point in my life as he is a walking encyclopedia with a wealth of experience, having worked with world-renowned artistes and production houses. I got in touch with him in 2012 when I watched his work on the late Michael Jackson’s This Is It rehearsals before he passed on.

“There is no harm in trying is the mantra that I live by and this very mantra made it possible for me to gather the courage to reach out to my icon Patrick and I’m happy that I did. To be honest, I didn’t think that he would respond to my email, but to my surprise and joy, he did and the rest is history.”

Since its establishment, Phenomenal Lighting and Power Solutions has provided services to reputable artistes, theatre venues, and festivals in Zimbabwe. These include Akua Naru, Cassper Nyovest, Oliver Mtukudzi, European Film Festival, Shoko Festival, Zimbabwe Jazz Festival, Jibilika Dance Festival, The Harare International Festival of the Arts, Francophone Festival at Alliance Française de Harare, Zimbabwe German Society shows, plays at Reps Theatre, Intwasa Arts Festival as well as at the British Embassy.

Moyo has mastered the art of using different types of stage lights which include floodlights, follow spots, fresnels and strip lights just to name a few and she has been fortunate enough not to have personally felt the power of electricity.

The lighting designer said her obsession with light is so strong that she does not do what any ordinary woman does.

“My life is all about lights. I’m obsessed with them. Tell me about manicures and pedicures and you’ll find me snoring. My love for lights exceeds everything and I’m constantly checking for developments in the lighting industry.

“I may not know how much manicure and pedicure costs, but I make it a point to know how much a light costs,” she said.

The lighting bae is a single mother of two with her son being 14 and her daughter being five and they love the power of lighting as well.

“They both love the field of lighting and my son assists me on some of my jobs. I’m very impressed with his abilities, so, yes, we are a ‘lighting’ family.”

Moyo and her children are keen DStv fans, having first become subscribers in 2014. As a technical person, she is fascinated by the many technological developments in the DStv service over the years.

Now, through the DStv App, she and her children stream favourite shows and live channels, as well as watch Catch Up.

“This we can do on our smartphone, laptop, tablet, computer and smart TV, so it’s versatile and exciting in so many ways,” she said.

The London-bound lighting designer said she will be attending school soon at Rose Bruford College where she will get to meet her icon, Patrick Woodroffe. She has been offered a place to pursue her Masters in Light in Performance.

Later on, this year, Mildred said she will make it a point to visit one of the schools she learnt in, Amhlophe High School for other projects.

As a person passionate about training aspiring people, Moyo has been impressed by the creation and development of the MultiChoice Talent Factory, which for several years has been training aspiring film-making professionals across Africa. She is especially impressed by the opportunities this initiative is providing to young Zimbabwean creatives as they explore film-making for their careers, despite being disadvantaged by a weak economic situation and the effects of the reaction to Covid-19. – @eMKlass_49