Agenda:
Main conference in Stockholm June 4 – 6, 2026
Registration link here, see programme below.
-> General Assembly Perspectiv June 3 2026
-> STTF Pre Conference June 3 2026
-> STTF 50 years anniversary dinner June 3 2026
-> Workshops
An opportunity to consider the qualities, uses and experiences of candlelit performance and its relevance to 21st century theatre. How can we reliably recreate 18th century stage lighting in a time of rapid development of new environmentally friendly and sustainable technology?
MAIN conference programme
Thursday June 4:
Drottningholm Court Theatre, Ekerö, Stockholm
Lectures introducing the Rope workshop, open for all participants
09:30 – Mastering the Ropes: Operating and preserving hemp rigging in historic theatres. Maintenance and safety in the Drottningholm Court Theatre.
Speaker: Åsa Tillman, Technical Director, Drottningholm Court Theatre
10:00 – Showing the Ropes: 3D scanning and documenting historic theatres.
Speaker: JR Norman Luker, Associate Professor of Theatre and Technical Director, Dept. of Theatre and Dance, College of the Arts, California State University Fullerton
10:45 – Learning the Ropes: Managing organizational learning of historic theatre machinery.
11:30 – End of Rope conference
11:30 – Registration (for those not participating in the rope conference).
Main programme – Drottningholm Court Theatre
12:00 – Light lunch in the Dejeunersalongen (wraps + soft drinks) for all participants
12:45 – Short backstage tour
13:20 – Welcome speech at Drottningholm Court Theatre
Welcoming speech Drottningholms Slottsteater. Åsa Tillman, Technical Director and Cultural Heritage Manager Drottningholms Slottsteater, Mark Fox, President of PERSPECTIV Association of Historic Theatres of Europe and Michael F Ramsaur, Former President of OISTAT, Professor Stanford University and Lighting Designer.
Lectures
13:30 – The Light of Fire: What is it? Why is it important?
Glenn KnicKrehm, Constellation Productions, Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA.
13:50 – The Drottningholm Experience – reconstruction of historic light in 1980, 1999 & 2025
Speakers: Per Forsström, former General Manager Drottningholm Court Theatre & Tobias Hallgren, Lighting Designer and responsible for technical solution historic light, Lumination of Sweden AB.
14:30 – Break: coffee & cinnamon bun
15:00 – The Eye and its Perception of Light and Colours
Speaker: Jan Ygge, MD, PhD, Professor in Pediatric Ophthalmology, Karolinska Institutet, Dept. of Clinical Neuroscience
15:45 – The History of Stage Light Through the Ages. A chronological Journey
Speaker: Chris van Goethem, Docent Podiumtechnieken RITCS – Royal Institute for Theatre, Cinema & Sound, Erasmushogeschool Brussel.
16:30 – End of the day at Drottningholm
19:00 – Welcoming buffet at Stockholm City Hall
The City of Stockholm, Stockholms Stad, is the host of the official reception.
Dress code: lounge suit
21:00 – Informal evening mingle
Friday June 5:
Candlelight Sessions at Confidencen, Ulriksdal court theatre, Solna
08:45 Confidencen Court Theatre opens for participants.
Coffee on arrival
09:20 – Welcoming speech from Confidencen organization
Speaker: Madeleine Onne, Artistic & Managing Director, Confidencen
Lectures
09:30 – Working with Candles, experiences and tryouts in the Confidencen Theatre
Speaker:
Per-Arthur Segerström, President of the Friends of Confidencen and Christer Nilsson, Chef Machiniste Drottningholms Slottsteater and responsible for the reconstruction of the stage machinery in Confidencen.
10:15 am: The Sam Wannamaker theatre experience of working with candles. Mark White, formerly of ETC and currently a lighting consultant specialising in modern reproductions of historical lighting systems.
The lecture will be linked from London and presented on screen.
10:35 – Coffee break
11:00 – A Stage Director’s Approach to Historic Light
Speaker: William Relton, Director.
11:45 – Showing workshops in artificial light.
Anna Kjellsdotter, Head of Costume Department and Exhibitions Drottningholms Slottsteater and Tor Cederman, Scenographer and Exhibition Designer. Mannequins in costume and make-up.
12:30 – Lunch Sandwiches and soft drinks.
13:30 – Demonstration: Candlelight stage illumination. Time to light up Confidencen with real candles and try the workshops again.
Continuation of discussion with workshops and William Relton, Anna Kjellsdotter, Tor Cederman. Mannequins in costume and make-up.
15:00 – Coffee break
15:30 – Candlelight – the Third Primary Color.
Tor Cederman, Scenographer and Exhibition Designer.
16:15 – Summary and discussion
17:00 – End of conference. Bus transfer to Stockholm Central Main Station.
Main conference in Stockholm June 4 – 6, 2026
Registration link here, see programme above.
June 6:
Saturday 6 June – Optional Programme
Excursion to Gripsholm castle theatre (optional)
09:00 – Bus departs from Stockholm City
10:00 – Arrival at Gripsholm. Guided tours of the theatre and visit to the castle.
13:00 – Departure from Gripsholm
14:00 – Return to Stockholm City
No refreshments included during the outing.
Main conference and optional programme
in Stockholm June 6, 2026
Registration link here, see programme above.
The conference is a collaborative event arranged by
- STTF – Swedish Association of Stage Technicians
- OISTAT – International Organisation of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians
- SLF – Swedish Lighting Designers Association
- PERSPECTIV – Association of Historic Theatres in Europe
in cooperation with
Confidencen Ulriksdals slottsteater and Drottningholms Slottsteater.
The conference is supported by the City of Stockholm and the Sponsors Scala stage systems & services GmbH and ModTruss Europe.
