Organised by the Society of London Theatre, the Olivier Awards with MasterCard is an annual event recognising the very best in London theatre. The 2016 ceremony took place at the Royal Opera House and White Light was asked to provide the production support across four areas: the Piazza ITV Stage, the red-carpet entrance, the main awards presentation and the after-show party.
The main awards presentation took place on the historic Royal Opera House stage. The Lighting Designer was Ben Cracknell, and the Production Electrician was Cy Dodimead. He comments: “My role was to take Ben’s design and work out how to power, cable and address the fixtures. That meant working closely with Ben, the Programmer Alex Passmore and WL to decide what kit was required to not only achieve the exact design but also work practically within the Royal Opera House."
As with all award ceremonies, planning was key. Dodimead adds: “Prior to the ceremony, my crew spent four days at WL’s London warehouse preparing all of the kit. Once we ensured the rig was working, their transport team took the equipment to the Royal Opera House where we had to work overnight Saturday evening in order to fit everything up prior to the Sunday night ceremony”. For the main awards show, Dodimead delved into WL’s extensive hire inventory and utilised the Clay Paky Sharpy Beams, Martin MAC Viper Profiles, Martin MAC Auras, Showtec Sunstrips and Vari-Lite VLXs; all of which were controlled by a Grand MA2 Lighting Desk.
WL also supplied the lighting equipment for the ITV Stage in Covent Piazza which was situated outside the Royal Opera House. The stage played host to a series of performances as well as the presentation of the Magic Radio Audience Award which ran simultaneously alongside the main awards ceremony. WL worked closely with ITV’s Lighting Designer Chris Vaughn, who comments: “Not only were we lighting the Piazza ITV Stage but also the surrounding buildings, in particular the St Paul’s Church canopy which overlooked the ITV Stage. Therefore I had to ensure the fixtures I drew on were able to create the required theatrical look as well as have the necessary reach - something WL was able to provide.”
Alongside this, WL also supplied the complete technical solutions for the post-show party. WL continues to work on the Olivier's to this very day; once again supplying 2019’s ceremony