SOAP LAKE — Things are a little brighter at the Masquers Theater now. No, literally – the whole place is brighter at the result of new lights the company won in a national contest.

The lights were donated and installed by Osram-Sylvania as part of the company’s annual contest, “Let Kreios Light Your Stage,” said Mark DeLorenzo, business manager for Osram-Sylvania’s North American operations.

Entering the contest was the work of Don Long, who is in charge of the lighting for Masquers productions. “The biggest headache I’ve had in the theater,” Long said of the old lights. They had a short life. And when they burned out they were hard to replace. They weren’t as bright as they could be, either.

But the company didn’t have a few thousand dollars sitting around for new lights, so Long decided to enter the Osram-Sylvania contest. The contest was scored on 50 percent need, 50 creativity in entry.

So Long detailed all the headaches the company had with its lighting system, and read it over. “And on a creativity scale, it scored a zero,” he said. So he decided to do what Masquers does best. He wrote a play in three acts. As for the last act, “all it said was, ‘To be determined,’’ Long said.

That was what caught the attention of the contest judges, said DeLorenzo. As a result Masquers was one of two winners in the U.S.

The new lighting system will make its public debut Friday, when Masquers presents the world premiere of "Aces are Feverish." The play was written by Spokane playwright and journalist Matthew Weaver, and is the second of Weaver's plays to have its premiere at Masquers.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].