The awards are being suppored by Clay Paky to recognise the UK's outstanding contribution to live performance and television. The awards are unique in honouring work across such a wide range of music, theatre, opera, dance and television.
Theatre nominees (Dance)
• Lucy Carter for Chroma at the ROH and her work with Random Dance. Her work was remarkable for the quality of light that added so much to the staging.
• Tim Mitchell for Hamlet for the Northern Ballet Theatre. His work was cited for its taste and restraint when so much was going on in the piece.
• Katharine Williams for I am Falling at the Gate theatre for creating many dramatic spaces in a tiny theatre.
Theatre nominees (Opera)
• Paule Constable for Satyagraha where the lighting gave a dynamic flow that took you from one scene to the other and the light seemed to be emanating from the performers.
• Matthew Haskins for his work on ETO's House on the Moon, which was a community work where the lighting helped bridge the audience and the stage performers and The Sofa/The Departure where the lighting created many different worlds.
• Paul Pyant for Minotaur at the ROH ( also just as easily nominated for Lord of the Rings, musical and Speed the Plow and Major Barbara, plays)
Theatre nominees (Drama)
• Paule Constable for Saint Joan at the NT where her work was painterly and apropos and helped to liberate the play with its design. The lighting re-imagined to startling effect how the Olivier could be used. There were also very favourable mentions of her work on War Horse at the NT and Othello at the Donmar.
• Hartley TA Kemp for Artifacts at the Bush where just a simple set of just a Persian carpet was beautifully lit and scenes that were exterior or interior were created with no sense of awkwardness.
• Peter Mumford for The Hothouse where he created a strange creepy mood with a tonal palette of sickly green.
Theatre nominees (Musicals)
• Neil Austin for Parade at the Donmar. Where he delineated space on a unit set creating different tone and atmosphere for each setting.
• James Farncombe for The Dysfunctionalz at the Bush, which moved from story-based scenes to concert format in an amazing way for that pub theatre.
• Paul Pyant for Lord of the Rings, where he created spectacularly good punctuation that made a complex show look seamless.
Judges: Louise Levene, dance critic for the Sunday Telegraph; Ash Khandekar, editor of Opera Now: Michael Coveney, Whatsonstage.com; and convened by David Benedict, UK correspondent for Variety.
Rick Fisher, who observed and advised on behalf of the ALD, reports: "It was thrilling for me to hear how eloquently the panel spoke of how lighting affected and enriched their appreciation of productions. Having them judge this award as well as having them contribute to the Focus critics column has also had the added benefit of making these critics more thoughtful of lighting's contribution to performance. This is a great benefit for the future appreciation and recognition of the work of lighting designers and the ALD wants to warmly thank Clay Paky for their sponsorship of the Knights of Illumination."
Rock nominations (Stage)
• Chris Bushell for Amy Winehouse: Judges comments: "A nice compact, modern take on a classic pros-arch theatrical, almost Vegas-style look with the lampshades and glittery drape adding warmth and personality; meets the need for scalability by filling the theatre stages whilst maintaining intimacy when rigged in larger venues. The 'big band' look also allows the slick band and BVs to contribute visually as well as musicall
