Jess Bernberg Lighting

portfolio

Photos by John Hunter

by Alistair McDowall

Director: Anthony Lau

Set and Costume Design: James Donnelly

Sound Design: Anna Clock

Production Electrician: Ryan Eales

New Diorama / Mountview

December 2018

Pomona

HOMOS, OR EVERYONE IN AMERICA

August 2018

Finborough Theatre

by Jordan Seavey

Director: Josh Seymour

Set and Costume Design: Lee Newby

Sound Design: Lex Kosanke

Photos by Marc Brenner

Photos by Helen Murray

by Josh Azouz

Director: Ned Bennett

Set and Costume Design: Hannah Wolfe

Sound Design: Giles Thomas

Production Electrician: Alex Ramsden

and Callum McDonald

October 2018

Soho Theatre / NYT Rep Company

Victoria's Knickers

"Jess Bernberg's ballsy, exceptionally bright lighting nicely compliment the action without ever threatening to pull focus from it. The sort of design that you don't really even notice, which I do mean as a compliment"

- View From the Circle

The Borrowers

December 2018

Tobacco Factory Theatres

by Mary Norton, Adapted by Bea Roberts

Director: Nik Partridge

Set and Costume Design: Rosanna Vize

Sound Design and Composition: David Ridley

Photos by Mark Dawson

"Jess Bernberg's magnificent lighting design, rich in colour but just on the right side of garish"

- The Stage

"Jess Bernberg’s glorious lighting"

- Reviews Hub

"dramatic lighting from Jess Bernberg"

- Stage Talk Magazine

Cougar

February 2018

Orange Tree Theatre

by Rose Lewenstein

Director: Chelsea Walker

Set and Costume Design: Rosanna Vize

Sound Design and Composition: Alexandra Faye Braithwaite

Production Electrician: Toby Cartmell

Photos by Richard Davenport

"superb lighting by Jess Bernberg (who did such an exquisite job on Jonathan Humphrey's 2017 production of The Death of Ivan Ilych). Bernberg's work, in particular, contributes powerfully to the story-telling here, as it skilfully delineates temporal and location shifts as well as providing a few moments of startling exposure"

- Boycotting Trends Blog

"There is a rapid pace to the show, helped by Jess Bernberg's excellent lighting design which skillfully defines the separate scenes, from low mood lighting to eye-watering brightness."

- Broadway World

"Special mention must also go to Jess Bernberg's lighting design, differentiating between the changes in time in Leila and John's affair with subtly differing gels across a panoply of lights"

- WhatsOnStage

Photos by Holly Lucas

SEX SEX

MEN MEN

Yard Theatre

Feb 2019

Pecs Drag Kings

Director: Celine Lowenthal

Set and Costume Design: Jasmine Swan

Sound Design: Xana

Aug 2019

HOME / Traverse

Co-Creators: Javaad Alipoor and Kirsty Housely

Set and Costume Design: Lucy Osborne

Sound Design and Composition: Simon McCorry

Video: Limbic Cinema

Photos by Peter Dibdin / Limbic Cinema

Rich Kids: a history of shopping malls in tehran

RUST

July 2019

Bush Theatre

by Kenny Emson

Director: Eleanor Rhode

Set and Costume Design: Max Johns

Sound Design: David Gregory

Photos by Helen Murray

WE ANCHOR IN HOPE

September 2019

The Bunker

by Anna Jordan

Director: Chris Sonnex

Set and Costume Design: Zoe Hurwitz

Sound Design: Emily Legg

Movement: Louise Kempton

Assistant Director: Rosemary Maltezos

Photos by Helen Murray

"Jess Bernberg's lighting and Emily Legg's sound perfectly coalesce with the overall vision, meaning the play exudes nothing but truth."

- Broadway World

October 2019

Donmar Warehouse

By Alice Birch

Director: Maria Aberg

Set and Costume Design: Rosie Elnile

Sound Design: Carolyn Downing

Video Design: Heta Multanen

Movement: Ayse Tashkiran

Lighting Programmer: Elliot Smith

Photos by Helen Maybanks

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Read the Whitelight Article:

White Light Goes [BLANK] at the Donmar Warehouse

Nov 2019

Theatre Royal Stratford East

Dick Whittington

Book and Lyrics: David Watson
Music and Lyrics: Robert Hyman
Director: John Haidar

Set and Costume Design: Lily Arnold

Sound Design: Giles Thomas

Choreographer: Anna Morrissey

Musical Director: James Doughty

Production Electrician: Jay Brown Young

Photos by Ikin Yum

Photos by The Other Richard

by Josh Azouz

Director: Ned Bennett

Set and Costume Design: Max Johns

Sound Design: Giles Thomas

March 2018

The Yard

BUGGY BABY

"The piece is impeccably designed all round, from the fantastically creative set by Max Johns, which works beautifully with Jess Bernberg’s excellent lighting design" - Spy in the Stalls

"The hints of the surrealism to come are to be found in the clever staging by designer Max Johns and the lighting by Jess Bernberg." - The Independent

"Giles Thomas and Jess Bernberg max the sound and lights to make Buggy Baby a visceral watch that swings from humour to horror in a flash." - Whats On Stage

"The actors are aided by an imaginative set, beautiful lighting and a bold sound design." - Upper Circle

The Poetry We Make

February 2018

Vaults Festival

Flugelman Productions

Director: Edwina Strobl

Set and Costume Design: Alexandra Kapsala

Photos by Lidia Crisafulli

"subtly lit by Jess Bernberg’s otherwise primary coloured design" - London Box Office

Reactor

May 2018

ArtsEd

by Brad Birch

Director: Hannah Banister

Set and Costume Design: Basia Bińkowska

Sound Design: Anna Clock

Photos by Andy Williams

Photos by Helen Murray

by Joe Harbot

Director: Cheryl Gallacher

Set and Costume Design: Bethany Wells

Sound Design: Josh Anio Grigg

June 2018

The Yard

A New And

Better You

"Jess Bernberg’s lighting design is original and mesmerising, in particular in the final climactic scene where we are made to feel as though we are in a desert; the lights perfectly mimic the sun, swirling sand and hot, blurry air." - Spy in the Stalls

"stellar work from lighting designer Jess Bernberg, every passing beat feeling distinctly different from the last, through to a claustrophobic, final sense of aimlessness at the close" - WhatsOnStage

FCUK'D

Photos by Andreas Lambis

by Niall Ransome

Director: Niall Ransome

Set and Costume Design: Grace Venning

Composer: Peter Wilson

December 2017

The Bunker Theatre

"Jess Bernberg’s magnificent use of light, notably the effect created to suggest the distant flickering of a car on fire ... for a play and venue of this size, Venning [Set and Costume] and Bernberg’s respective designs leave a mark." - A Younger Theatre

"Lighting, designed by Jess Bernberg also plays an important role in Ransome’s vivid staging, day turning into night and vice versa, malfunctioning street lamps flickering and blue flashes from police cars signalling the arrival of a hostile presence." - Reviews Hub

"Jess Bernberg's lighting is subtle, its use of blue washes and occasional yellow tinges creating a neat atmosphere" - What's On Stage

"It’s elevated ... by Jess Bernberg’s lighting, a soft embrace of pink and orange, punctured occasionally by flashing blue lights and sirens." - The Stage

"The productions’ music (by Peter Wilson) and lighting (Jess Bernberg) are both invaluable to the overall impact of the play, and work really well alongside Mytum’s narration." -The Peg

"Jess Bernberg’s brilliantly effective lighting combines with Ransome’s words to show us things we can’t see, like the flickering orange of a flame, or the blue lights of an approaching police car." - A Blog of Theatre Things

"grabbing glimpses of moments bathed in Jess Bernberg’s cold, evocative lighting" - Everything Theatre

The Death of Ivan Ilyich

October 2017

Merton Arts Space, Wimbledon

by Leo Tolstoy

Adapted by Stephen Sharkey

Attic Theatre Company

Director: Jonathan Humphreys

Set and Costume Design: Grace Venning

Composer: Ben Pearson

Photos by Claudia Marinaro

"The atmosphere is wonderful. Globes of light sit on round tables through which Ivan roams, masterfully creating the impression that we’re witnessing a séance." - TheatreBox

"The dimmed lights on each round table of seats, coupled with the haunting Russian background music, set the atmosphere perfectly as Tarlton opened the performance with a question. ...

The lighting and music worked well again as the play wound up." - WimbledonSW19

"Clever staging transforms Merton Arts Space into a low lit club" - The Culture Vulture

"a clever arrangement of circular dining tables, where you take your seat amongst seven or eight strangers, bathed in a celestial glow from the lanterns in the middle, is most effective." - Essential Surrey

"Grace Venning and Jess Bernberg’s brilliant design (set/costume and lighting, respectively) places the audience at tables lit by lanterns, conjuring an atmosphere of séance that feels entirely appropriate for Sharkey’s revisioning of the material as a ghost story of sorts." - Boycotting Trends

AND THE REST OF ME FLOATS

September 2017

Rose Lipman Building,

Birmingham Repertory Theatre

Outbox Theatre

Director: Ben Buratta

Set and Costume Design: Rūta Irbīte

Sound Design: Dominic Kennedy

Photos by Matthew Ferguson

"Jess Bernberg’s lighting emphasises its generally sombre mood"

- British Theatre Guide

"The lighting and sound design – from Jess Bernberg and Dominic Kennedy, respectively – were subtle but creative, making the most of the otherwise rather limited space. Both were used particularly well in a scene where the cast undressed and redressed onstage, corralled and exposed with a spotlight."

- HisKind

BALM IN GILEAD

March 2017

Silk Street Theatre

Director: Joseph Blatchley

Set and Costume Design: Dora Schweitzer

Sound Design: Tom Bosworth

Photos by Clive Barda

SQUIRM

By Serafina Cusack

Produced by: Appetite Theatre

Director: Oliver Yellop

July 2016

Bread and Roses, Theatre503, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, King's Head

Photos by Matthew Ferguson

The lighting design by Jess Bernberg managed to change the location from bathroom to pub to lounge in a way that the simple staging shouldn’t have allowed.

- Everything Theatre on SQUIRM 2016

"The lighting, by Jess Bernberg, is one of the highlights (pun intended): fairy lights create for us the atmosphere of a pub garden, red bulbs put us in a macabre mood, and spotlights send us to new locations and situations." - Hiive on SQUIRM 2016

"Switching between timelines, Jess Bernberg’s lighting design transports between scenes; one moment, a pub’s fairy lights adds romance to a bleak meeting of two individuals, then the grey drags back the grimness of Rory’s bathroom. It encompasses the stage, and on a small budget, with discomfort, places the audience into Rory’s private and disgusting state." - Live Theatre UK on SQUIRM 2017

This is Matty, And He is Fucked

Dir: Jesse Angelo

Design: Andy Hart

Movement: Emma Naomi

October 2016

Winemaker's Club, Farringdon

Photos by Benjamin Wainwright

Jess Bernberg’s talent is apparent with her ensuring all actors and the action takes place under well-lit areas, something I imagine is difficult to achieve in a venue not designed for theatrical performances.

- Live Theatre UK

full credits here//

June 2022

Theatre by the Lake, Keswick