Posted on March 17th, 2026
William Gibbs was the Production Electrician and Set Electrics Maker for our 2025 tour of Even More… Ghost Stories by Candlelight. William’s blog, originally published in the ALPD’s Focus magazine, sheds light (if you’ll pardon the pun) on the practical and creative process on building a lighting set up with touring and environmental responsibility at it’s heart. Further examples of William’s work can be found by clicking here.
HighTide’s touring production of Even More… Ghost Stories by Candlelight invited audiences into a world built on tension, intimacy, and carefully crafted atmosphere. While much attention often falls on the lighting rig in productions of this nature, the real heart of this show’s visual identity lay elsewhere: in the set electrics that shaped its atmospheric storytelling from within the set itself. HighTide’s approach to climate dramaturgy, embedding ecological thinking into every creative choice, shaped the way the set electrics were conceived, constructed, and toured. Working closely with Lighting Designer Jonathan Chan and Set & Costume Designer Lu Herbert, the set electrics became a key layer in delivering the show’s haunting visual language and their artistic approach of climate dramaturgy.
As Production Electrician and Set Electrics Maker for the tour, my role centred on designing and building a system of low-voltage practicals and integrated lighting elements that could survive the demands of travel, venue variation, and nightly resets; all while supporting HighTide’s commitment to sustainable, climate-conscious production practices.
Reusing, Repurposing, and Reducing Waste
A large proportion of the set electrics came from a personal stock of equipment that has been accumulated, maintained, adapted, and reused across multiple past productions. LED drivers, cabling, housings, connectors, power supplies, and even lengths of LED tape all had previous lives.
Instead of purchasing new materials, the production leaned heavily on these existing components, integrating them into new configurations that met the designers’ intentions while avoiding unnecessary waste. Even the housings and cable management solutions were constructed with reuse in mind, designed to be removed cleanly and repurposed for future productions.
By the time the tour closed, over 70% of the set electrics used had already served on prior projects, and nearly all of it is now heading straight back into stock ready to be redeployed on future productions.
A Circular Set Electrics Approach
This production became a clear example of the value a circular model can bring to set electrics. With budgets tightening across the industry and increasing pressure to adopt more sustainable production methods, the reuse-first approach offers a practical, achievable strategy that aligns with both environmental values and financial realities.
The success of Ghost Stories by Candlelight demonstrated that high-quality set electrics do not need to rely on brand-new kit, whether that’s high-quality purchases or cheap one-time solutions. Instead: careful planning, thoughtful stock management, and a willingness to repurpose materials can deliver results that are aesthetically rich, technically reliable, and significantly lower in carbon footprint.
Moving Forward
As this kit returns to the shelves – now carrying the history of yet another production – it represents something more than equipment. It marks a growing shift in small-scale touring: a recognition that circular set electrics can support artistic ambition just as effectively as newly purchased hardware.
If Ghost Stories by Candlelight proved anything, it’s that sustainability in theatre often happens behind the scenes: in the solder joints, in the reused housings, in the careful decision to build something that can live again and again. And in this case, the result wasn’t just environmentally responsible: it was beautifully, atmospherically, hauntingly effective.
