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# 1 Rope Workshop June 3-4 2026
Baroque Stage Machinery and Hemp Rope Rigging Techniques
The course in rope and rigging history begins at Drottningholm Court Theatre, where the participants will encounter the unique set and fly machinery from 1766. Under the leadership of the theatre’s experts, participants will learn how the historical machinery works and carry out a set change. The course provides insight into how baroque theatre machinery created illusions with simple but ingenious technical solutions. After the morning’s practical exercise, the day continues at the Vasa Museum with an exploration of ropemaking and ship’s rigging. Participants will follow rope’s journey from raw fibre to finished product to understand its decisive meaning for both theatre and seafaring. Throughout the course, practical exercises will be integrated with historical context to provide a comprehensive picture of the development of the craft.
June 3
09:30-12:00 – Drottningholm Palace Theatre – with Christer Nilsson
- Introduction to the theatre’s historic set machinery from 1766.
- Review of the basic mechanisms and function in which rope played a central role.
- Practical exercise in which participants can try an historical set change.
12:00 – Bus to the Vasa Museum
- Transport to the museum. A light lunch will be provided to eat on the bus.
13:00-17:00 – Course in ropelaying and rope knowledge at the Vasa Museum
- Introduction: Brief tour of the museum with Fred Hocker, Director of Research
- Presentation by Olof Pipping, rigger
- Review of the rigging of Vasa
- Explanation of fundamental rigging principles with a model of the ship
- Practical exercise in the Small Cinema
- Three specialists in ropelaying and rigging explain different rope qualities
- Demonstration of how rope is made
- Participants can try to make rope.
June 4 2026
09:00-12:00 Seminars in Drottningholm Court theatre on hemp theatres – safety, maintenance, knowledge and future challenges.
Workshop 3rd of June 2022, Presentation for audience on the 4th
Workshop fee 2200:- 220 Euro
add Conference by candlelight 2400:-
Workshop fee 300.- (student) 50 Euro
Maximum number of attendees 30 of which 10 students
Workshop leader Christer Nilsson and Åsa Tillman
#2 Costume workshop June 3 and 5
WHAT IS VISIBLE AND NOT ON A COSTUME IN CANDLELIGHT?
18th century costume design possibilities.
Light and costume – working in 18th century stage lighting
During the 18th century, the stage was lit only by candlelight, which created a warm, moving light with clear shadows. This placed special demands on the color, material and shape of the costume. Saturated colors, strong contrasts and light-reflecting fabrics were used to stand out clearly, while bright and muted tones easily lost their effect.
In the workshop, we work practically with different materials, colors and surfaces in Drottningholm Palace Theatre’s new stage lighting. By testing and comparing, participants gain a deeper understanding of how the lighting affected the choice of fabric, color and design, and how historical principles can be used as inspiration in their own creations. The course concludes with seeing selected parts of costumes in candlelight on the Confidencen stage on Friday, which will then be lit by candlelight, just like in the 18th century.
The workshop is held at Drottningholm castle theatre in their costume design workshop.
Workshop 3rd of June 2026, Presentation for audience on the 5th
Workshop fee 2500:- 250 Euro
add Conference by Candlelight 2400:-
Workshop fee 500.- (student) 50 Euro
Maximum number of attendees 12 of which 2 students
(First come, first served)
Workshop leader Anna Kjellsdotter
#3 Makeup workshop June 3-4-5
The Mask in the Light – from Candlelight to LED
The course shows how masks, make-up and wig work change depending on the nature of the light. Participants work practically in historical stage rooms where the light originally shaped the expression of the mask, and compare this with today’s technology. The focus is on craftsmanship, materials and visual results – not theory in the first place.
Course core
Two theatres are used as living tools:
• Drottningholm Palace Theatre – historical stage lighting, Baroque and 18th century aesthetics, deep stage image, vivid shadows.
• Confidencen – intimate stage room where the face and expression are closer to the audience and where small changes in the mask are decisive.
Participants see concretely how the same mask changes depending on light and distance.
Content (practical format)
Day 1 – Historical light and mask
• Review of the history of light on stage.
• Grease paint, powder, contrast building.
• How the face was modeled for weak and warm light.
• Practical work on a model.
Day 2 – Wig, hair and silhouette
• How wig and hair worked together with stage light.
• Volume versus realism.
• Quick stage solutions from opera tradition and spoken theatre.
Day 3 – The same mask in modern light
• LED and modern light sources.
• Color shifts and material problems.
• Adaptation for camera and close-up light.
Day 4 – Comparison and stage test
• The same mask is shown in two lighting environments.
• Photo documentation.
• Analysis: what disappears, what is enhanced.
Target group
• Make-up artists and wig makers
• Costume and performing arts students
• Theatre technicians and lighting designers
• Professionals in opera, musicals and film
Format
• 12–16 participants (craft course, not lecture)
• 4 days
• Practical work every day
• Final viewing or internal demonstration
Strength of the approach
Drottningholm and Confidencen are not just course venues but pedagogical tools. They show how the mask was once intended to be seen. It provides an understanding that cannot be recreated in a modern context.
NOTE: this is very practical work.
The workshop is held at Drottningholm Court Theatre in their wig design workshop and Confidencen, Ulriksdals Court Theatre.
Workshop 3rd of June 2026, Presentation on the 4th and 5th of June 2026
Workshop fee 5800:- 580 Euro
Workshop fee 700.- (student) 70 Euro
Maximum number of attendees 12 of which 2 students
(First come, first served)
Workshop leader mask maker Robin Karlsson
Register your workshop attendance in the conference registration form
#4 Workshop Historic Light before electricity June 2
OISTAT arranges a one-day workshop Historic Light before electricity
In this workshop we experiment and discover how oil light, candlelight, and gaslight worked in the practical reality of a performance. We look at how lighting systems were build and used, but also at the impact on sets and the staging of the actors. We discover how the audience experienced and perceived this lighting in relation to their daily life reference framework. And how actors would use practicable lights in their performance. Based on hands-on experiments we try to imagine and understand the reality of the era where dark was dark and light was expensive.
The workshop participants will look at how theatrical performances for electricity came to light. Participants will work with oil lamps, wax candles and various forms of gas candles. But also measure the color temperature to be able to compare the different light sources. The participants also build floor ramps with the different techniques.
Workshops leader is Chris van Gothen. He teaches History of Technical Theatre, Research skills, production management and Special Effects. He is responsible for the expertise centre for technical theatre of RITS, school of arts, Erasmus University College Brussels and is involved in research on education, competence management, history and technical theatre. (https://www.podiumtechnieken.be/en )
He researches the history of technical theatre and was part of the “Changement a vue” research project At the moment he is part of the “Fading lights” project. Both projects are conducted in cooperation with SADA, Uniarts, Stockholm.
Workshop 2rd of June 2026, Presentation for audience on the 5 th of June 2026
The workshop is held at Per Edström, Värmdö. Transport from Stockholm included
Workshop fee 2500:- 250 Euro lunch be included
Workshop fee 500.- (student) 50 Euro
Maximum number of attendees 12 of which 2 students
(First come, first served)
Workshop leader Chris van Goethem
# 5 Decor Painting –
Candlelight – The Third Primary Color
Until the end of the 18th century, the only artificial sources of light were various kinds of wax and tallow candles as well as oil lamps. The ability to illuminate scenery and actors on theatre stages was limited. Scenic painting had to be adapted to these conditions. It was important to paint with relatively light and cool colours and to avoid overly saturated tones. Otherwise, the warm glow tended to make the pictorial painting indistinct.
The court theatres at Drottningholm and Gripsholm possess a large collection of original stage flats from the late 18th century. For the past seventy years, these have gradually been replaced with copies in order to avoid damages during performances. The copies have almost exclusively been produced in the scenery workshops of the Royal Swedish Opera. As a result, historical illusionistic painting has become a long-standing tradition in Stockholm, with the two court theatres serving as a living reference and source of knowledge.
Imitating or recreating historical illusionistic painting is difficult. Many levels of knowledge must work together in order to achieve a successful result. How can one capture that distinctive 18th-century manner? The workshop includes several exercises in form and colour aimed at helping participants enter into the illusionistic language of the 18th century. The results will then be studied together on the stage of the Drottningholm Theatre, but also in the glow of candlelight at Confidencen, the theatre at Ulriksdal. The course also includes a number of lectures with illustrated presentations.
The workshop will take place in the historic paint shop backstage of the Drottningholms Court Theatre.
Tor Cederman is a freelance artist, exhibition designer, and scenographer. He has been interested in 18th-century Baroque theatre since his youth and has studied several different aspects of the subject of illusion theatre. In the 1980s he was an apprentice scenic painter at the Royal Swedish Opera, where he had the opportunity to copy a backdrop from Drottningholm. During his long career as a designer and scenographer for museums and theatres, he has made extensive use of his knowledge of historical illusionistic painting. Between 2013 and 2022, Tor Cederman built a large model of the Old Stockholm Opera House, the theatre where Gustav III was shot. He is currently planning a project together with the Stockholm City Museum to build a model of the Arsenal Theatre, which burned down in 1825.
Workshop 2rd and 3rd of June 2026, Presentation for audience on the 5 th of June 2026
The workshop is held at Drottningholm
Workshop fee 4500:- 450 Euro
Workshop fee 700.- (student) 70 Euro
Maximum number of attendees 15 of which 2 students
(First come, first served)
add Conference by Candlelight 2400:-
Workshop leader Tor Cederman
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