In November 2024, Hema Maskowitz was selected as one of 65 female lighting designers and specialists featured in Collected Light Volume Three: Women in Entertainment Lighting, published by Light Collective — a UK-based lighting consultancy and advocacy organisation with over 25 years in the field.
The book reaches across the globe to document women working in theatre, live events, film, and television — an industry where, despite the pivotal roles women play, their contributions have historically gone unrecognised. Hema’s two-page feature covers her path into lighting, her approach to design, and two of her most significant productions: The Great Gatsby and The Secret Garden, both staged at The Star Theatre in Cape Town.
The Gatsby feature explores how colour was used to carry the emotional arc of the story — reds and oranges for heat and danger, soft whites and blues for symbolism, a hazer and smoke adding texture to outdoor scenes. The Secret Garden spread showcases the dramatic use of light beams, haze, and overhead rigging to fill a limited and abstract set — lighting that had to do the work of scenery.
