ABOUT

Lara Dubin

dubinlighting @gmail.com

I have been working professionally in theatre since 1990 and have been teaching Lighting Design since 2005. My career began Off-Broadway working as a light board operator, electrician, and assistant lighting designer, and then transitioned to working on Broadway as an assistant lighting designer for Don Holder, Natasha Katz, and Ken Posner. I received my MFA in Lighting Design in 1999 and have been working ever since as a lighting designer and educator. I am a working member of United Scenic Artists Local USA-829 and a member of USITT.

Courses that I have taught include Intro and Advanced levels of Lighting Design, Intro Sound Design, Drafting for Theatre (which included hand drafting and computer drafting with Vectorworks), and The Art of Theatre Design (a survey course of all the design areas of a theatrical production – sets, costumes, lights, and sound). For the Spring 2026 semester at Smith College I will be teaching a new course called The Culture of Light – this is an introductory course open to all that will investigate ways in which light, both as a physical phenomenon and a digital medium, continues to capture and spur human imagination in creative fields such as live events, the arts, architecture, interior design, cinematography, and animation.

In all the courses I teach I find it is important to connect the theory with the actual stage experience, both onstage and off, for students to have a true understanding of how theatre works, how the magic happens. Whether this happens through assigned crew work working on a department production or by being included in all the designing stages through the build of a show so that when they watch it, they are more than just an audience member, they are thinking as a designer and are seeing how all the pieces fit together to create the whole production experience.

I believe strongly that the theatrical design skills, methods, and knowledge that we teach have critical value to the fields of science, business, art, teaching, management, and more. When teaching theatre classes, we are training students to think in nontraditional ways and showing them how to work through ideas and challenges from different angles so they can produce inspiring projects and creative solutions. One of my main goals as a theatre teacher is to open my students’ eyes and minds in how they perceive the world around them and then make them aware of how their choices and actions can influence how others see and interpret that world. Students start off thinking that they are just learning about how designers can influence an audience’s interpretation of what is happening onstage but by the end of the semester, these students find themselves seeing the world around them through newly opened theatre eyes. The thoughtfulness, creativity, and experience in collaboration that they were trained to bring to the stage they will now bring to their other classes and future occupations.

One of the most important things learned from my years of teaching is that it is critical that a classroom is recognized as a safe space by the students within it. I have used my own experience as a first-generation college student to guide me in cultivating the habit of not making assumptions about a student’s experiences or expectations. In my classroom there are no judgements, all questions are welcomed, and all ideas are open to discussion. I want the students to be open to different ways of seeing, listening, and thinking. I strive to create a positive classroom climate by using inclusive teaching principles, recognizing and understanding the intersection of multiple identities, and working towards making sure that everyone feels supported in the classroom. Student feedback and evaluations are valued, and I often make adjustments, trying new approaches and ideas, to strengthen positive student outcomes. I work towards incorporating the knowledge from my professional, academic, and personal experiences to encourage students to explore the full realm of their creative potential by providing an atmosphere where they feel able to fully express their unique and diverse identities through the medium of theatre.