"Christopher Nairne’s lighting design deserves a special mention in creating incredibly effective moods throughout and
the evocation of nightmarish Fascist propaganda was chillingly well realised."
"The cloister's pillars are clothed in crumpled silver brimming with fairy lights, part of
an ambitious and nimbly effective lighting design by Christopher Nairne
which mixes electric light with candles to play with both the texture and colour of different kinds of light."
– Charlotte Valori, Bachtrack
"... each theatrical element [is] rich in calorific value.
The striking lighting design... resembles the tone and angles of a graphic novel..."
– Pauline Flannery, Stage Won
"Max Dorey’s immersive design... [is]
claustrophobic, disconcerting and often - in Christopher Nairne’s careful lighting design - pitch black."
– Matt Trueman, Whatsonstage
"Add to this Christopher Nairne’s fantastic lighting, playing with complete darkness, low lighting, and small light sources such as phone screens and candles, Cargo is
a dangerous and dark creation with a stifling aesthetic and atmosphere..."
– James Waygood, Grumpy Gay Critic
"... beautifully lit by Christopher [Nairne],
who transforms the space from a bleak prison to an English hill to an Iraqi desert."
– Fourth Wall Magazine
"... warmly illuminated
by Christopher Nairne’s intimate lighting."
– Matt Dicks, The Stage
"[The set’s] transformation from living room to pub is ingenious, and washed over by
Christopher Nairne’s melancholic lighting..."
– Stewart Pringle, Exeunt
"... Christopher Nairne’s space-savvy lighting raises
a bleak bush sunlight over Max Dorey’s set,
both perfectly formed for the Arcola’s smaller studio."
– Kate Maltby, The Times
"Christopher Nairne's lighting design
dances off the rainbow walls..."
– Fiona Scott, Broadway World
"... superb lighting effects and video projection
from Christopher Nairne and Dariusz Dziala..."
"... Christopher Nairne’s
magical lighting projects an ethereal shadowy moon
above illicit assignations."
– Sheila Cornelius, Remote Goat
"[Delicate and powerful choreographed routines] inhabit set designer Max Dorey and lighting designer Christopher Nairne’s
lightbulb-strung, bombsite wonderland of a set
to create a slick kind of night-time magic."
– Alice Saville, Exeunt
"For much of the production, Guy Jones’ direction and Cécile Trémolières’ set is unassuming and restrained (the same goes for Christopher Nairne’s intelligent lighting). But every once in a while, all these subtle theatrical flourishes - these small but significant human touches - pull together and create something big...
the lighting begins to play with our senses...
little lights glimmer and dance through the trees."
– Miriam Gillinson, Exeunt
"[The set] is complemented by Christopher Nairne’s
sympathetic lighting design that bathes the stage in a fading light..."
– Amy Yorston, British Theatre Guide
Chloe Kenward and Christopher Nairne added great touches to Deen's work with lighting,
subtly gracing characters with their own hints of colour.
– James Willstrop, Whatsonstage
"... richly lit
by Christopher Nairne..."
– Natasha Tripney, The Stage
"... peppered with blinding and dazzling lighting...
you’ve got a production that can only be described as ‘otherworldly’."
– James Waygood, Grumpy Gay Critic
Tom Fool (Orange Tree Theatre)
"Lighting designer Christopher Nairne effectively picks out moments that need attention, occasionally focusing on the depressed inertia of a character
- not easy in so small a space -
before returning to the brightly lit drama of a family in clear view."
– Sara West, Everything Theatre
"Christopher Nairne’s lighting design of blinding flashes
is perfectly complemented by Simon Slater’s... urgently textured soundscape..."
– Ian Foster, There Ought to be Clowns
"Christopher Nairne’s lighting and Pete Malkin’s sound are
original, inventive and atmospheric..."
– Genni Trickett, Last Minute Theatre Tickets
"Christopher Nairne’s accomplished lighting design is a key element in Elks’ atmostpheric, engrossing production,
subtly transforming the squalid studio into a place of magic and memory."
– Alun Hood, Whatsonstage
"Christopher Nairne’s lighting
picks out [Dan Frost’s] features almost sculpturally."
– Tom Wicker, The Stage
“... a hangover-hurting sunrise blazes through the kitchen window...”
– Mark Lawson, The Guardian
"... elegantly designed and smartly lit..."
– Matt Trueman, Time Out
“... sympathetically lit by Christopher Nairne’s
atmospheric lighting design.”
– Paul Vale, The Stage
“... the lighting and music’s
intimate... dynamic set-up
allows the audience to feel immersed...”
– Elmira Tanatarova, Camden New Journal
"... Christopher Nairne’s lighting is
moodily pitch-perfect..."
– Ian Foster, There Ought to be Clowns
"Christopher Nairne’s lighting design
pins Joe like a moth with cold, clinical beams
or bathes him in the golden glow of the past as he takes refuge in memory."
– Sam Marlowe, The Times
"... Christopher Nairne’s
peerless lighting...
[allows] lightning-fast shifts of mood and location..."
– Ian Foster, The Public Reviews
"… Christopher Nairne’s evocative lighting gives
fresh intensity to the swiftly changing scenes."
– Jane Martin, Whatsonstage
"A beam of light snaps onto an old valve radio...
It is an exquisite transformation."
– The Jewish Chronicle
"Lighting designer Christopher Nairne has... harnessed this cavernous space to create an atmosphere which marries beautifully with [Ben] Ellis’ words and [John] Kachoyan’s direction. This is a huge space to light and
with a show that is so epic... it is impressive that Nairne has managed to pull off such intimate moments so successfully."
– Skye Crawford, Fringe Review
"Christopher Nairne’s
sultry lighting saturates the stage
as saxophones sigh."
– Tom Wicker, Time Out
"... a Tron-like cage of fluorescent strips
elegently lit by Christopher Nairne
is simple but striking..."
– Natasha Tripney, Exeunt
"Christopher Nairne’s
hypnotic, paranoid lighting
is particularly stunning."
– Tim Bano, The Stage
"... most striking is Christopher Nairne’s spectacular lighting...
sharp bursts of colour to show Rach’s anxiety, reality-eliding strobe lights, or rippling swells like delicate sound waves."
– Marianka Swain, The Arts Desk
"... pencil-thin concentric rhomboids of light... flash and flicker and glow with white and blue and red against the surrounding darkness (design, Christopher Nairne).... From the very first ‘boom’ of deep electronic vibration that beats through our ears, combined with a perfectly synchronised ripple through the ribs of light on the stage,
we are held together by this technological artistry."
– Julian Eaves, British Theatre
"Neon arches and atmospheric lighting (Christopher Nairne)... add to the overall sense of threat and energy in this
astonishing masterpiece that haunts the mind well after the crashing chords and hallucinatory visions have subsided."
– David Guest, The Reviews Hub
"The production exudes a sepia toned 50s aesthetic,
from the rusted illuminated ‘T’ which greets audiences in the bar, to the warm glow of the string lights which adorn the auditorium,
and dually allude to the makeshift aplomb of Ted culture, as well as the austerity of its post-war roots. A clever detail from lighting designer Christopher Nairne."
– Charlotte O’Growney, Talk Stagey to Me
"Christopher Nairne’s lighting was beautiful and
set the tone perfectly for each scene."
– Charlotte Hurford, The Spy in the Stalls
"Christopher Nairne’s lighting design is
cheerfully reminiscent of a videogame,
especially when paired with Giles Thomas’ electronic sound effects."
– Fergus Morgan, Everything Theatre
"The mood shifts like glass caught by changing light
(the clarity and mists of Christopher Nairne’s... lighting are very fine)."
– Susannah Clapp, The Observer