A former student found herself in the spotlight when she received a sought-after lighting design award.
Rachel Bottomley, who graduated this year, was presented with the Michael Northen Bursary, which recognises innovation and creativity in the field.
The bursary is awarded by the Association of Lighting Designers (ALD), a trade body for live performance industry lighting designers working in the UK and overseas. Both recent graduates and current students can apply for it.
The 22-year-old, who did a BA (Hons) in Theatre and Performance Technology and worked as a followspot operator on the roof of the Olympic Stadium this summer during the opening and closing ceremonies, received £500 in career funding and the opportunity to assist an established designer.
The bursary was this month presented to Rachel by ALD member Durham Marenghi - whose credits including the lighting of the Queen’s golden and diamond jubilee concerts - at the Theatres Trust stand at London's PLASA entertainment technology trade show.
Her winning entry comprised the lighting designs she created for LIPA’s production of A Clockwork Orange and for The Last Eden at Liverpool arts venue The Kazimier, both staged while she was in the final year of her degree programme.
The judging panel said: "Rachel presented a very impressive portfolio, showing atmospheric, bold and dramatic states. It showed interesting and thoughtful approach to scripts and finding relevant reference material, visibly demonstrating how it was involved within her process through to seeing it implemented in the finished design."