I’m Hatz (Harriet), a freelance lighting designer from Essex. I’m fascinated by what light can do in a theatre: how it can visualise a story, capture emotion, heighten themes and shape the way an audience experiences a moment.
 
I love working with a script you can really dig your nails into. I’m interested in the layers underneath a piece: its themes, politics, people, characters and emotions and how lighting can bring those things to the surface. I love exploring how light can respond to text, sound, direction, design and performance to create a world, build rhythm and take an audience on a journey.
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My approach is instinctive and visual. Coming from a background in painting and visual art, I think about light in much the same way I think about paint on a canvas: using colour, contrast and atmosphere to sculpt a space. When I read a script, I often form immediate visual impressions of colour and atmosphere, which I then develop through collaboration, rehearsal and experimentation.
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I’m especially drawn to expressive lighting and theatre that has something to say, particularly stories about people, for people, and work exploring class, politics and gender. I love collaborating with creative teams to find ways for design to make those ideas felt as well as understood, creating lighting that is purposeful, expressive and deeply connected to the story.