Showlight 2025 Speakers

Dr. Yaron Abulafia is a visual artist and researcher whose work explores the dynamic intersection of light and space, where performance design and installation art converge. His creations transform light and lighting objects into kinetic scenography for ballet, theatre, and opera, elevating light to the role of performer and imbuing it with life and narrative. Abulafia is the author of The Art of Light on Stage and is currently completing his next book.

Presenting together at Showlight, Argentinian lighting designers Sophya Acosta and Luciana Suppicich specialise in theatre and live events. Founded in 2019, their studio has offices in Buenos Aires and Barcelona, and has developed projects of various scales for local and international companies. Alongside their lighting design work, the duo also conduct research into the field of Light Art, which sees them creating works where light is the central and foundational element of construction.

Starting at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge as assistant electrician in 1980, Ken Coker has worked in almost every area of events and live entertainment as a lighting designer/lighting technician. With a career that has embraced theatre, dance opera and some teaching, he has for the last fourteen years been involved in lighting for the live music and conference industry. 

Simon Corder has completed more than 400 projects internationally over the past forty or so years. His practice embraces lighting for performance, set & production design, light art, and zoo design.

He has worked extensively as a lighting designer and scenographer in opera, site-specific performance, theatre, music theatre, and dance. Simon created lighting for the first night-time zoo in the world, which opened in 1994 – since visited by over twenty-five million people.

He was honoured as a Knight of Illumination in 2017.

Clara Daguin is a French-born artist who grew up in California's Silicon Valley. She is a graduate of the California College of the Arts (San Francisco) and the Ecole Nationale

Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (Paris). She founded her eponymous Maison in 2017 following her participation in the Festival International de Mode et de Photographie in Hyères. In addition to her own creations, she collaborates with artists, researchers and institutions including Google, Baccarat, Nike.

Thierry has been fascinated by light and images since he was very young, so it was only natural for him to become a director of photography - a field where artistic and technical skills are very closely intertwined.

For him, technology and construction have always been a source of curiosity and are part of his practice during the preparation and shooting of a film.

This has led him to work on a wide range of projects, from documentaries to fiction, music videos to advertising, wildlife films to experimental short films. Thierry also teaches at Cinecreatis in Nantes and ISB in Brest.

David is a highly experienced Project Director with a career in themed entertainment spanning over 34 years and five continents. He has a unique ability to work across cultures and industries, leading teams to deliver excellence. With notable projects such as the large scale systems integration for the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa, themed projects including Disneyland Paris, Motiongate (Dubai) and Genting Highlands (Malaysia) balanced with Teatro La Fenice (Venice) and Royal Opera House (London). David brings originality and quality to every project he takes on, drawing on his foundation of international contracts, technical construction, and commercial delivery. 

Elanor is a prolific lighting designer based in Wales. She has been lighting productions for theatre, opera, dance, musicals and children’s theatre for over 25 years and thrives on the collaborative nature and challenges each production brings.  A graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, she returns as a guest lecturer and mentor in Stage Lighting. Elanor features in the new book ‘Women in Entertainment Lighting’ by Collective Light, WIL.

Jesper Kongshaug is an award-winning lighting designer working at the intersection of performing arts, light art, architecture, and lighting technology. Over the past 25 years, he has shaped striking visual experiences on international stages with a signature style that blends classic precision with radical innovation. Known for his experimental yet assured approach, Kongshaug creates evocative theatrical landscapes. He also lectures at leading cultural institutions worldwide, sharing his expertise in lighting design and visual storytelling.

Martin Kuhn is a German lighting designer with extensive experience on a wide range of

global projects, from concerts and events to museums and architectural lighting. His expertise lies in creating immersive designs that integrate storytelling, audio, and video, bringing each project to life with a unique, captivating vision that resonates with audiences.

Mikki Kunttu is a lighting, set and screen content designer for theatre, live entertainment, television and visual arts, with a unique design signature that has brought him global renown amongst the industry, and as a speaker in universities and seminars.

His wide-ranging design career covers almost every style of lighting imaginable, and is renowned for collaborations with choreographer Tero Saarinen, Cirque du Soleil, The Royal Danish Ballet, Boston Ballet, the Finnish National Opera & Ballet and three Eurovision Song Contest productions. 

Photo: Atte Mäläskä

Marco Miglioli, architect and lighting designer with over 15 years of experience, initially trained in theatre, has placed at the centre of his interest the relationship between light and built space, constantly blending his passion for theatre, art and architecture. He is founder of the studio “Marco Miglioli ArchiLight Studio”. He won several international awards. He is a member of the ALPD, IES, DarkSky International, APIL and AIDI Associations.

Anne Militello is a veteran lighting designer and Professor at CalArts. She has received critical acclaim for her work in theatre, concerts, themed architecture and light art installations.  She frequently lectures about light and design and heads the Masters Lighting Program at CalArts. She received an OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence in Off Broadway Theater, the prestigious Paul Waterbury Award of Distinction from the International Illuminating Engineering Society, Lighting Designer of the Year from Lighting Dimensions International, among other honours.

Ezequiel Nobili, an Italian-Argentine artist, is a prominent lighting designer with a degree in Image and Sound Design from the Pan-American School of Buenos Aires. He is a member of the AAI, Spain's association of lighting and video authors. With extensive experience in the performing and audiovisual arts, he has designed numerous lighting, video, and scenic design projects. Additionally, he teaches at various institutions, focusing on light and the emotional impact of colors. 

Luc Peumans is the founder and creative director of Painting with Light. He is a visionary lighting designer with over 30 years of experience in creating immersive visual experiences. Renowned for his innovative designs in live entertainment, architainment and themed environments, Luc combines artistic creativity with cutting-edge technology to craft captivating narratives through light and multimedia. As a passionate leader and industry expert, he inspires professionals worldwide to push the boundaries of lighting design, blending art and innovation seamlessly.

Having studied architecture at the National School of Versailles, Saffran has been a lighting designer for 10 years in Paris, Dijon, Marseilles and New York. Sensitized to light at a very young age through photography, she has integrated light into every moment of her schooling. On a 6-month internship at New York’s l’Observatoire International, she discovered both the exciting job of lighting design and how light and space/architecture are inseparable, before deciding to direct her professional practice towards lighting, learning the trade in the best Parisian studios before setting up her own business in September 2021.

As the MD of White Light, Bryan led the sustainability strategy of the company including achieving B Corps Status and ISO14001 accreditation. Since stepping away from the company early in 2024, He has been concentrating on various sustainability initiatives including the Theatre Green Book and working organisations such as PLASA, Music Venues Trust and ABTT as well as continuing to work with d&b/White Light and other SMEs on their sustainability strategies.

Brad is a self-proclaimed “Lighting Geek” whose love for lighting started at a young age. Throughout his career, he has had the opportunity to work in various parts of the world and in different areas of the industry. With almost 40 years of experience, Brad is not only an author, designer, programmer, and consultant but has also worked for manufacturers including High End Systems, Vari-Lite and Martin.

One of Australia’s most highly awarded designers, Nick Schlieper has worked with all the major Australian performing arts companies and regularly works internationally. His work has been seen on Broadway, at the Lincoln Centre and BAM in NY and on the West End and at the Barbican Centre in London. His work in Europe includes productions for the State Opera companies of Bavaria and Hamburg and at the Salzburg Festival. Theatre work there includes productions in Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and Vienna.

His many teaching engagements include a 10 year stint as resident guest lecturer at the Bavarian Theatre Academy in Munich.

Part of Showlight since 2005, Roger has worked in 30 different countries - sometimes in languages he didn’t understand - and is a graduate, and now fellow, of Rose Bruford college. His award-winning work as a lighting designer, cinematographer, writer and director in many different genres has been seen on stage and screens across the world. Born in the Netherlands, he began his career in the UK and now resides in France. 

Presenting together at Showlight, Argentinian lighting designers Sophya Acosta and Luciana Suppicich specialise in theatre and live events. Founded in 2019, their studio has offices in Buenos Aires and Barcelona, and has developed projects of various scales for local and international companies. Alongside their lighting design work, the duo also conduct research into the field of Light Art, which sees them creating works where light is the central and foundational element of construction.

Phil has worked outdoors creating lighting designs for large scale performances, artworks, public and private commissions for over 25 years.  He has delivered internationally recognised projects in the UK and worldwide including the national WWI commemorations at The Tower of London in 2014 and 2018.

In 2020 he graduated with distinction from The Bartlett Institute / UCL MSc Light and Lighting course – The UK’s renowned architectural lighting design training programme.

Christina Thanasoula is a freelance lighting designer. She has trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (London, UK) and holds a Master of Arts in Advanced Theatre Practice, strand of Lighting Design. Since 2003, she has designed lighting for over 250 opera, theatre and dance performances. She is currently working on her PhD thesis on lighting design at the Department of Theatre Studies at UOA.

Willie Williams works with light and moving images to create live shows. He is best known for his 40-year creative relationship with rock band U2, whilst his long-term pioneering work with LED technology, new media and immersive environments has produced innovations that have become industry standards. Theatre credits include video design for Prima Facie in the West End and on Broadway, for which he won a 2023 New York Drama Desk Award. He is a founding partner of Treatment Studio, London.