I does sound like you've tried a lot of the options and are going in the
right direction. Also it's a tough problem to solve.
If I were trying it, I would have lots of soft light coming from the
top. This would ease the reflection off the linoleum flooring. Also, I
would hope that it would bounce around and some would take care of the
corners. If the soft lites were from a bunch of sources the bounce back
into the camera would be less.
Then, side light. Big wide side light. 50 degree or par cans or
striplights. Things that will overlap each other a lot. Fill in those
pesky shadows.
Also, if the back wall is black - curtain or hard, I'd light the wall
too. I think that might help in the depth and reduce the amount of light
needed on the performers.
My only other idea is to put a tight mesh gobo into the frontlight. This
would break up some of the flattness in the fronts, and break up some of
the harsh harsh light bouncing around.
Good luck!
One other thought, and I'm not really qualified in this area. But I'd
light the camera and the room. Especially if I'm having lots of
problems. For some reason the ambient light in the room effects how the
camera works. So, if one is shooting with the houselights on it's
different than if the camera has to shoot thru some darkness before it
gets to the light. I dunno, maybe it's my imagination. But it could make
a difference!
--
DK dk@calarts.edu David Kroth http://www.calarts.edu/~dk