Reviewers must give each criteria a score between 0-10.

Supports Storytelling
Overall, how well did the lighting design support the storytelling?

Did it enhance character, underscore or create dramatic beats, or otherwise enrich key moments in the show? Or is the lighting plan so generic and disconnected from the story that it could have been used for any show?

Creativity/Originality
How creative was the designer’s lighting plan?

Was there an interesting and unique use of shadows, colors and textures? Was there subtly and creativity use in the timing of cues, such as slow cues to build intensity with the emotion of a scene, or fast, hard cues to punctuate comic moments? Did the designer use creative lighting solutions to overcome difficult challenges posed by the material, the staging, or the performing space? Or did this just appear to be a paint-by-numbers effort?

Creates an Environment
How well does the lighting create an appropriately realistic and believable environment for the play?

Is the lighting unique and appropriate to the world created by the director and other designers? Does the lighting help differentiate time and place? Does the lighting establish mood appropriate to the play and shift with the unique and shifting moods of the play?

Technical Execution
How well are the technical aspects of the lighting executed?

Was the lighting motivated from sources provided or inferred by the set design and staging, or did light sources seem arbitrary? Based on the context of the scenes, was the stage properly lit so as to reveal the actors’ faces as appropriate, or were actors performing in the dark or walking through unexplained shadows when they shouldn’t have been? Were the use of levels appropriate and effective, or were they intrusive? If there were special effects, were they believably executed? If there was a large burning fireplace in the scene, did the light have realistic characteristics that suggested fire, or did it just look like a static red light?

Level of Difficulty
How difficult was it to execute the lighting plan the designer attempted?

Was this a show with 200 lighting cues? Were there many special effects or lighting challenges the designer had to overcome? Did the lighting plan require a high degree of proficiency? Or was the lighting plan very simple, fundamental and without significant challenge?

Use of Available Resources
How well did the lighting designer seem to make use of the available resources?

Some theaters have limited space and equipment. If this was the case, how effective was the lighting in supporting the director’s vision and meeting the needs of the show based on the resources you could see? Other theaters have more and better technical equipment. Based on what appeared to be available, how well did the lighting design effectively and fully leverage the resources to the fullest best advantage? Or did the resources appear to be under utilized?