Tag Archive: Chroma-Q Color Force 72 LED Battens

1. White Light Supplies Leopoldstadt in the West End

   13 February 2020 09:45 Leave a Comment

   

   White Light has supplied the lighting equipment for Leopoldstadt; which opened at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London’s West End last night.

   Written by legendary playwright Tom Stoppard, Leopoldstadt tells the story of three generations of the same Jewish family living in early 20^th century Vienna. It is directed by Patrick Marber and features a lighting design by Olivier Award-winning Neil Austin. Neil comments: “Leopoldstadt is a truly exceptional play which encapsulates the experience of the Austrian Jews through one family’s journey.  Beginning in the period of cultural and scientific explosion in Vienna at the turn of the century, it spans a near sixty-year period ending in 1955.  To achieve the passing of time, it’s an abstract set of gauzes and items of furniture, which represent the one room through the years”.

   As such, Neil’s brief on the piece was to dress the set in a way which would guide the audience through the different time periods. He explains: “It was a question of looking at how the lighting could suggest the various changes in time-period, as Austria’s political landscape transforms through the piece. At the start, it highlights the opulence of the early 20^th century, then moves into the post First World War period of the 1920s, before heading into the late 30s when Vienna was under Nazi control, before finally ending in 1955 when the room has become a de-nazified office. I needed to allow the lighting to capture the emotional temperature of the story.”

   

   The emotion captured in the piece was also another huge influence on Neil’s design. He explains: “Tom Stoppard has described this as his most personal play yet and there are some truly beautiful moments packed with raw emotion. As such I knew that my fixtures needed to be quiet to ensure each of these points in the play had moments to breathe and could be underpinned by silence”.

   Knowing what he had to achieve, Neil approached WL to supply him with the fixtures he required. He explains: “For this rig, I drew on a mix of ETC Revolutions, Vari*Lite VL1000AS ERS, ETC Source 4 Series 2 Lustrs, Bambino 5K Fresnels and standard Source Fours. The Vari*Lite VL1000AS ERS were used on booms in the wing, emulating the daylight through windows, and were brilliant playing to their natural colour temperature advantages. The 5Ks played a similar role as they were used to recreate sunlight. The Lustrs were used as general work-horse units while the Revolutions were used as specials”.

   

   Whilst there was a very limited set in the play, Neil’s design did have to contend with the gauzes that were present on stage. He explains: “In order to light the rear gauze and gauze legs, I asked for troughs to be buried in the raked stage which then housed a range of Chroma-Q Color Force 72 LED battens. These battens were used to skim up the gauzes to establish the difference between when they were lit in different colours and when they weren’t. In the final scene of the play, the gauzes are unlit for the first time and so the stage appears to be a black void”.

   Leopoldstadt opened yesterday evening and will run until 16^th May 2020.

   Neil concludes: “It’s been a privilege lighting such a beautiful and poignant piece of theatre. I am really grateful to my brilliant team which includes Production LX Martin Chisnall, Programmer Tom Mulliner and Production Manager Paul Hennessey. As ever, thanks once again to WL for supplying me with the fixtures I needed and for their great support”.

   Photos courtesy of Marc Brenner.

2. White Light Supports Rose Bruford Graduate Exhibition

   20 June 2017 15:32 Comments Off on White Light Supports Rose Bruford Graduate Exhibition

   

   One of the performances during the Graduate Exhibition.

   Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance is London’s International Drama School. Students from over 40 different countries study on the 15 different vocational and professional degree courses, with notable alumni including Gary Oldman, Hayley Squires and Tom Baker. Every year, the College hosts a Graduate Exhibition in order to give its graduating students a launchpad into the industry. Having worked with the College for over ten years now, White Light was called upon to provide the complete technical solutions.

   This year’s Graduate Exhibition was named Beginner’s Call and took place at the Ugly Duck in central London. The Head of Production was Anthony Sammut, the Production Manager was Toscane Luckett whilst Sam Jackson was the Technical Manager. Sam states: “My role on the exhibition was to work closely with Ollie Brennan (Technical Supervisor) and oversee the technical elements. This was one of most ambitious showcases we’ve ever held, with the upper two floors showcasing our technical students’ work and the ground floor being used for four performances in rep. We chose the Ugly Duck as it’s quite an open venue and would allow us to showcase all of the students’ work”.

   

   Sam had to create a technical infrastructure including a power and network system design that would not only work practically within that space but highlight the work on display. Sam comments: “We made several site visits down to the space to see how we could use it. It took us around six weeks of planning to finalise a design along with a kit list which we knew would be ideal for the exhibition. It was at this point we approached White Light”.

   Working closely with WL’s Senior Hire Co-Ordinator Dan Last, Sam drew on an extensive range of WL’s technical equipment. Sam states: “We approached WL as we knew they were an organisation who could offer the complete technical solutions. As the showcase is attended by industry professionals whom our students are hoping to impress, we need the standards to be as high as possible”.

   

   The students speak to industry professionals.

   
   For the lighting, WL supplied Chroma Q Color Force 72 LED Battens, Rainbow Scrollers, Selecon Fresnels, Minuette Fresnels, ETC Source Four Juniors and Coemar Silver Parlites. These were all programmed on an ETC Ion 1K Console. Sam adds: “It was important that we had enough lighting for the actual exhibition itself and that we could highlight the work on display. However, we also had to ensure that the lighting designers working on the performances on the ground floor had enough options to achieve their vision”.

   Sam also worked closely with Oscar Cotran, who was Head of Sound for the performances and drew on WL’s extensive audio inventory. Sam states: “We employed a Dante system which drew on EMS 51, 61 and 81 Loudspeakers, EMS 115 Sub Bass along with Shure Wireless Mics. This had a particular importance for the musical performances and it ensured that there was even audio coverage throughout the space”.

   WL also supplied the entire rigging system, which included Prolyte X30D and H30X trusses, along with Doughty Clamps, scaffold clamps and even sand bags!

   

   From left: Bryan Raven (WL), Sam Jackson (Technical Manager), Andy George (VAULT Festival) and Nick Hunt (Rose Bruford).

   Beginner’s Call ran from 14^th-17^th June and the work on display came from seventy-nine students graduating from seven courses. With the Ugly Duck being in constant use, this meant that Sam and the team had a limited time to prepare for the event – despite the vast amount of equipment involved. He states: “We literally had two days in which to build the infrastructure, set up the equipment, drape off the dressing rooms, install the emergency lights along with a thousand and one other things! That’s why it was so vital to plan beforehand and assure that we had drawn on the most reliable technology”.

   This marks another student showcase that WL has supported, having worked with Rose Bruford since 2004. Sam adds: “What was so great about WL is that they supplied all of the technical equipment. From the largest lighting fixtures to the cables to the speaker stands, they had absolutely everything we required. The service they provided was fantastic, the staff were extremely friendly and their equipment allowed our graduates to get the most out of their work”.

   Photos courtesy of Alec Brand, Ben Wilkin, Michael O’Reilly and Sam Jackson.