Tag Archive: Fringe Theatre Lighting

1. White Light Supplies Kipps and Ragtime at ArtsEd

   21 April 2021 08:48 Leave a Comment

   

   ArtsEd is one of the UK’s leading drama schools and for over a century has offered a range of Acting and Musical Theatre courses at a variety of levels. As part of its training, third year students take part in their renowned Graduate Shows, with two of this year’s productions being Kipps: The Half a Sixpence Musical and Ragtime. The lighting designer for both was Nic Farman, who approached White Light (WL) to supply the lighting equipment. 

   The Graduate Shows at ArtsEd were a much-welcomed return to theatre for Nic who, like so many other designers, had most of his work either cancelled or postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He comments: “I  really enjoy working with the team at ArtsEd so was pleased to be asked back for these shows. Their response to the Covid situation has been really transparent and encouraging and they’ve allowed us to continue making work throughout the restrictions, such as the creative team and cast forming a working bubble for production week, as well as ensuring that we are all regularly being tested. When I found out I was lighting the shows, I immediately got in touch with WL who I have worked with on many occasions now, including when I lit Disney’s Newsies at ArtsEd back in 2019, and who I knew could provide what I needed”. 

   As Nic was lighting two shows that are stylistically very different, this meant he had to use the same rig in different ways. He explains: “Kipps was bright and sculpted for all the dance  ensemble numbers, whereas Ragtime was darker and  asymmetrical, often using only one section of sidelight to give us clean shadows and an imposing scale. ArtsEd operates on a semi-fixed rig basis which covers a lot of what I would put into it (I also have the added advantage of having a hand in designing the  fixed rig so it includes some of my stalwarts!). Because the shows play one after the other as opposed to in rep, the fixed rig gives us some flexibility, with time  to change gel and minor refocuses between productions. ArtsEd also have a good stock of ETC Lustr lanterns which means I can have an overhead wash and  sidelight that is completely flexible”. 

   He continues: “When it comes to dressing the set, I try to pair lanterns up across the productions. For example, on Kipps, we had a number of flown set pieces  which were lit from the low slips. Those lanterns were then repurposed to dress the girders in the set for Ragtime. On both shows we had a  beautiful layered cyc, courtesy of the designer, Frankie Bradshaw. It had two layers: a flat white cyc upstage which we lit from the bottom to give an  infinite skyline and a second, textured gauze downstage which took light scraping across it from all angles wonderfully. So as a team we  were able to create a vast number of looks with the cloths, from more realistic skylines for Kipps to abstract painting of colour across what almost  felt like a solid rock face for Ragtime”. 

   

   Nic then approached the Customer Service team at WL and worked closely with Andy Cullen and Louise Houlihan to supplement the existing fixtures. He explains: “ArtsEd has a great stock of ETC Lustr Series 2 fixtures, with both profile lenses and the fresnel adapter, and I used these for sidelight and overhead fill. This is then supplemented by four High End Solaframe 1000 Profiles which give me flexible spot specials. We also hired units to light the layered cyc, which included the ETC Colorsource which l’m a  huge fan of due to how well they blend, along with their punchy output. We also brought in extra Lustr Series 2 fixtures with Fresnel adapters to light across the front of the  textured cloth with their barn doors giving me control of the abstract streaks of light we were after. For a project like this where you are working across two shows, having infinite colour options is vital as it allows you that much needed  flexibility”. 
   
   Following two months of online rehearsals, this year’s ArtsEd Third Year Graduate Show took place last month and played to a socially-distanced audience of staff and students. For many of the graduates, it was the first time they had performed in over a year and offered them the vital opportunity to showcase their skills before they embark on their professional careers. 

   Nic concludes: “It was great to be back in a theatre, making work in what hopefully marks a gradual return to normality. I’d like to say a massive thanks to the team at ArtsEd (Di, Phil, Chris, Molly, Alex, Roo, Joe, Caitlin and Russel) for facilitating a smooth and safe production. I’d also like to thank WL as always for their support throughout the entire process”.  

   Show Credits:

   Kipps

   Director – Joesph Pitcher
   Choreographer – Ashley Nottingham
   Musical Director – Nigel Lilley
   Set Designer – Frankie Bradshaw
   Costume Designer – Gregor Donnelly
   Lighting Designer – Nic Farman
   Sound Designer – Adam Fisher

   Ragtime

   Director – Stephen Whitson
   Choreographer – Stuart Winter
   Musical Director – James McKeon/Ben Cox
   Set Designer – Frankie Bradshaw
   Costume Designer – Natalie Pryce
   Lighting Designer – Nic Farman
   Sound Designer – Adam Fisher

2. White Light Supplies You Stupid Darkness! at Southwark Playhouse

   27 January 2020 11:05 Leave a Comment

   

   White Light has supplied the lighting for You Stupid Darkness! which recently opened at the Southwark Playhouse, London.

   Presented by Paines Plough and Theatre Royal Plymouth, You Stupid Darkness! is an urgent new play set within the Brightline Call Centre and focuses on four colleagues who try to keep their lives together whilst the outside world falls apart. The Lighting Designer on the show is Peter Small, who comments: “My brief for this production was that it shouldn’t feel ‘lit’; meaning I wanted it to feel as natural as possible to the audience. The concept was that you had sort of peeled the wall off this strange office and were peering in from a dark place, somewhat ‘fly on the wall’. This concept meant working closely with Set Designer Amy Jane Cook and adding in masking which would allow me to drop the rig very low and hide it away from the audience. As this was a dystopian piece, I also had to have a rig that would allow for bursts of surrealism, alongside the hyperrealism.”

   And whilst the show is dealing with large issues, the production itself was all about the smaller details. Peter explains: “The set is the same location throughout and also very naturalistic. Therefore a lot of my lighting had to showcase a passage in time, as this was often the only indication in between scenes. I did this by varying the background from return to return; sometimes the computer was on, sometimes the lamps were on and off, sometimes someone left the main light off but forgot to turn the kitchen light off etc. The show also starts very brightly and intentionally gets darker as the situation worsens for our characters. I don’t think moments of ugliness or shadows creeping in are a bad thing; in fact, it’s something we celebrated with this show”.

   

   Knowing the creative and practical brief that he had to achieve, Peter contacted WL and worked closely with Senior Account Handler Louise Houlihan and Account Handler Hugh Kemp to decide on his perfect fixtures. He explains: “With a show like this, you have to put a lot of thought into every single fixture you draw on and make sure it earns its place. Par cans are the focal point, providing a 4×4 grid of ‘pipe end’ with a heavy diffusion as this 4×4 set up gets around the set obstacles. Dimmable CFLs then echo this concept but in a ’top light’ sort of way, as they are also used as strobes. The Acclaims did a great job suggesting some spotlights on a track like you might find in an office; again, emphasising the natural realism. Generically then anything coming in from outside had to be a Profile to cut around the metal work on the set. 

   He adds: “We used 500w Fresnels for footlights with Source Four Pars, mainly due to their form factor but also the fact that they were a great source for candlelight in the later scenes. The windows all received Chroma-Q Color Force 48s, with the cell control important for us to suggest the various changes that were happening outside the space. A fistful of Data Flashes were used for either a spot effect or backlight strobing the audience whilst Nitro strobes on the advanced bar allowed for a strong front blast. We also had a curtain of ACLs as we cannot achieve a full blackout due to the candles hence the curtain provided a somewhat framing metaphor. Alongside this, we had multiple smoke and haze machines, multiple AF1 fans, a swirl fan, snow machine, an exploding kettle, electro magnets, collapsing desk and a lot of LED tape”.

   

   The show originally ran at Theatre Royal Plymouth before transferring to London. As such, Peter had to make certain adjustments to his design. He explains: “Whenever you move venues, your design is obviously going to change. For us, this mainly came in the form of unit quantity, rigging and infrastructure. When we arrived in London, I had to work closely with my Production Electrician Doug Finlay to go through the show file and calculate the maximum power consumption and channel usage. Following this, rather than cut the rig, we wanted to make sure we used alternatives and paired fixtures where we could. Thankfully, the team at WL was extremely useful in suggesting which units we draw on and I even ended up adding some moving lights to the rig”. 

   The show has now opened to rave reviews and will run until 22^nd February 2020.

   Peter concludes: “It’s been fantastic to revisit this brilliant, highly-relevant show and bring it to a London audience. Often transfers can be tricky but thankfully I had a brilliant team in Doug, Tom Davis (Programmer) and, of course, WL who supported me every step of the way”.

   Photos courtesy of Ali Wright.

3. White Light Supplies the Lighting for Baby Reindeer

   24 October 2019 14:56 Leave a Comment

   

   White Light has supplied the lighting equipment for the critically-acclaimed Baby Reindeer, which has recently opened at The Bush Theatre following its award-winning run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

   Written by Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer is a chilling personal narrative that looks at what happens when a kind gesture and trivial interactions results in much wider ramifications. It is directed by Oliver Award-winning Jon Brittain and features a lighting design by Peter Small, who comments: “Baby Reindeer is the true story of Richard’s experience of stalking. The thinking for the lighting design was to provide the necessary location changes and anchors that the audience can latch onto; especially as there were no scenery or props to guide them through the multiple revisited locations. Primarily though the lighting was there to follow Richard’s emotional journey down to breaking point and ultimately back up again. The lighting hopefully works in parallel with him on his frenetic journey, which results in a surprisingly dense cue structure and requires razor sharp operating as we pretty much chase his every move”.

   

   Prior to its London run, the show began life as part of the Paines Plough Roundabout at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Peter explains: “We wanted to keep some of the DNA of the visuals we had made there as well as wanting to recycle as much of the cue data we had done in Edinburgh as possible, therefore I needed a good quality colour changing LED light with a bright parallel beam that could be clustered together into a formation. The Bush had a good generic stock but I knew I needed to supplement the rig with specific LED lighting”.

   As a result, Peter contacted WL and worked closely with Account Handler Louise Houlihan to decide on the most suitable fixtures. Peter comments: “We eventually settled on the Chroma Q Color Force 12, which was an unexpectedly good fit, within budget and WL had the quantity we needed available. The decision to use these was quite out of the box but they ended up being a big highlight of the design. Also, you can run them in two cell mode which effectively gives you double the number of lights! We also hired some faithful Narrow 80v TW1s which were great for pulling focus tightly to Gadd for more concentrated moments and making the rest of the picture fall to black”.

   

   As the play began in Edinburgh and then received a transfer to London, this meant that the entire creative team had to formulate their design accordingly. He comments: “Perhaps the biggest difficulty in bringing the show to London was transcribing a design made on such a custom lighting rig to traditional lighting equipment in which the fundamental imagery and design logic are the same. The change to the design for London was the addition of the scenery which required lighting in its own right as well as some fiddly 3D drafting to ensure shots could be achieved. The other big addition was seven more projectors which meant stripping back a few looks as video would take the lead visually in those moments. Sometimes, with lighting, less is more and that was definitely the case in this situation”.

   The show has now opened to five star reviews, almost selling out across its entire run which concludes on November 9^th.

   Peter comments: “It was great to be part of the Baby Reindeer creative team and we’re all delighted by how it’s been received. I’d like to thank WL and my account handler Louise for once again being utterly brilliant and providing the superb service I’ve now come to expect from them”.

   Photos courtesy of Michael O’Rielly.

4. White Light Goes Gently Down the Stream

   28 February 2019 14:58 Leave a Comment

   

   White Light recently provided the lighting equipment for Gently Down the Stream which has opened to rave reviews at London’s Park Theatre.

   Set at the turn of the 21st century, Gently Down the Stream is a delicate examination of the relationship between Beau; a 62 year old piano accompanist from New Orleans, and Rufus; a 28 year old bi-polar lawyer, set over the course of thirteen years in Beau’s London flat. It is written by Martin Sherman, directed by Sean Mathias and features a lighting design by Jamie Platt.

   Jamie comments: “The majority of the show is set in Beau’s apartment which is beautifully designed by Lee Newby. We wanted this to feel as real as possible so, as a result, most of the lighting for these scenes was committed to creating a totally naturalistic world. That said, Sean was very keen to make the monologues that are dotted throughout the play feel incredibly poignant and sentimental as they tell us of Beau’s history in dealing with homophobia, AIDS, loss and heartbreak. Therefore, the aim of these moments was to focus on Beau and try to make the flat disappear into the background”.

   

   Having supplied a range of Jamie’s shows throughout 2018, he approached WL once again to provide the lighting on this production. He explains: “I knew I wanted to use the expansive back wall of the Park Theatre as a blank canvas for the monologues. It lends itself so well to washes of colour, and WL offered me the PixelLine 1044 LED battens. These fitted perfectly into the rig and their multi-cell function also allowed me to close down gently to the exact areas I wanted to highlight.

   He adds: “I also knew that each monologue was likely to be in a different position on the set so I spec’d two Martin MAC TW1s with narrow lenses. I love the tungsten quality these offer, and the ability to perform a subtle live colour change over a five minute speech was a big plus for me. Finally, I put two Vari*Lite VL1000s into the rig, and I was able to use them to perform live shutter moves to close in on various characters over the show. The lack of fans on the tungsten VLs and the TW1s was of supreme importance from a noise perspective, on such a delicate play”.

   

   This marks the European premiere of the production, with Sean Mathias having also directed the show’s premiere on Broadway in 2017. Jamie comments: “We really wanted to make this version not feel like a copy of the previous production. The Park 200 space offered a vastly different setting (thrust vs pros. arch) and I was keen to use colour in a much bolder way to differentiate the monologues from the naturalistic world in the scenes”.

   The show was now opened to rave reviews and will run until 16^th March.

   Jamie comments: “This has been a fantastic show to work on and we’re proud of the response we’ve received from both critics and audiences alike. I’d like to thank our Production Manager Patrick Molony for doing such as great job as well as Bryan Raven and Simon Arnold at WL for their continued support”.

   Photos courtesy of Marc Brenner.

5. White Light Supplies The Ugly One at Park Theatre

   12 June 2017 08:27 Comments Off on White Light Supplies The Ugly One at Park Theatre

   Following its initial run at the Royal Court Theatre a decade ago, The Ugly One has recently returned to the capital in what is its tenth year anniversary. Currently running at the Park Theatre, this revival is being directed by JMK award-winner Roy Alexander Weise. As one of the leading lighting suppliers to London theatres, White Light has provided the lighting for this production.

   The Ugly One is written by Marius von Mayneburg and the lighting designer is Amy Mae, who has recently returned from New York having lit the critically-acclaimed Sweeney Todd at the Barrow Street Theatre. She comments: “The Ugly One is about identity, beauty standards, morals and technology. The technology aspect was really helpful in shaping our approach. The writing has a way of blending scenes together so a big question for the creative team was how to support these shifts. There are also a wide range of locations and contrasting situations featured in the piece. Therefore I needed a cover of light that could achieve all of these and have the ability to balance levels and colour as required”.

   

   Amy worked closely with Loren Elstein (Designer), Louise Rhoades-Brown (Projection Designer) and Giles Thomas (Sound Designer) to create a feel that encompassed their collective visions. Amy states: “The show is being performed in Park Theatre’s 90 space which is in the round. Therefore my biggest concern was ensuring I covered all areas as well as not wash out the projection! Similarly, during time in the space, Roy and I found that the lighting should help define the stranger, more surreal moments of the show from the more realistic lighting state that pervades throughout”.

   To achieve this, Amy approached WL and drew on the company’s extensive hire inventory. She states: “Moving lights were very useful for this design. The actors cover all areas and once we got into the space blocking needed to be changed so having something versatile was brilliant”. This versatility came from the GLP X4 Impressions which WL has invested in extensively. Amy comments: “The Impressions have a useful built in mode which allows you to change the pattern on the front of a light. This meant for certain scenes that took place in more corporate settings, I could create some interesting patterns to link with the feel of a particular scene. They also go from 7 to 50 degrees, which is perfect for small spotlights and stage washes where required”.

   Amy’s design also relied heavily on the use of LED tape. She states: “The tape was inspired by an image that Loren showed us of a rectangle with light coming from underneath which created a floating effect. It’s also been useful for transporting the audience across the worlds of the surgery, hotel, conference room and even in the surreal transitions. It’s been a great way to add saturated colour into the design”.

   Whereas this is the first time that Amy has lit a show at the Park Theatre, it also marks the first time that she has worked with projection. She adds: “Balancing light and projection has been a new experience for me but one I’ve really enjoyed. Louise has done an amazing job and her projections bring a whole new element to this classic piece. All of the creative team have been really open to one another’s suggestions and thoughts and I think that shows in the finished product”.

   The show opened last Friday to rave reviews. It will run until 24^th June.

   Photos courtesy of Helen Maybanks.

6. Breaking Up is Hard to Do for White Light

   11 April 2017 08:16 Comments Off on Breaking Up is Hard to Do for White Light

   Currently playing at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Breaking Up is Hard to Do is a musical comedy featuring eighteen songs by pop icon Neil Sedaka. Set during the 1960 Labour Day weekend in New York, it tells the story of Marge and Lois who visit Esther’s Paradise Resort Hotel hoping to find love and romance…The production marks the show’s London premiere. Following its work at fringe venues in both London and across the UK, White Light was called upon to provide the lighting equipment.

   The lighting design is by Jai Morjaria who was the recipient of last year’s Association of Lighting Designer’s ETC Award. He comments: “Prior to the show, I don’t think I’d even heard of Neil Sedaka. That said, during research, I listened to Sweet Sixteen and slowly realised that I knew quite a few of his songs. This was also the first time I’ve professionally lit a musical. There are over 300 lighting cues and a lot is going on in every scene so it’s been challenging yet worth it when you see the finished product”.

   Jai collaborated closely with the director, Jordan Murphy, and the set designer, Richard Cooper, to create a look that would be most suited for the show. Jai states: “Both Jordan and Richard had very bold ambitions artistically. My brief was fairly simple: make the songs look as glamorous as possible and make the holiday camp appear the exact opposite! This was a great starting point and something I was able to build on as we entered rehearsals”.

   Having worked with the company previously, Jai approached WL to supply him with the equipment needed for the show. He comments: “For Breaking Up, I decided the most important thing would be colour. I really wanted deep, saturated colours to complement the vibrancy of the set. To keep with the style of the piece, I didn’t want any of the LEDs to be visible to the audience – something that was slightly difficult given the show was in thrust! However, after speaking to WL about my specifications, we came across the Chauvet COLORado 1 Solo fixture which seemed to do exactly what I required.

   Jai adds: “I went down to WL’s base and organised a demonstration of the COLORado and realised they were perfect. Thankfully, due to WL’s close relationship with Chauvet, we managed to put together a rig which consisted of 8 x COLORado 1 Solos, 5 x Rogue 2 Spots and 6 x COLORado 2 Tours. This meant we also had to update our control equipment so I drew on an ETC Gio to control the rig”.

   The show has now opened and will run until the 23^rd April. Jai adds: “This really is a feel good show and it’s great to work on something like this. In regards to the technical elements, we really pushed what we could achieve in a space as intimate as the Gatehouse as we’re all really proud of the show”.

   Tom Wilkes, WL’s Business Development Manager, comments: “We were delighted to be able to work with Jai and ensure he had the equipment he needed for this show. While we may supply some of the biggest shows in the West End, we embrace working in a range of venues, regardless of their size or location, to ensure that all of our clients receive the exact same high standard of service”.

   Photos courtesy of Kevin Ralph and Joseph Hodges Entertainments.

7. BU21 Transfers to the West End with White Light

   1 February 2017 08:28 Comments Off on BU21 Transfers to the West End with White Light

   Following its critically-acclaimed, award-nominated run at Theatre503, BU21 has recently transferred to Trafalgar Studios. The show follows six Londoners in the aftermath of a fictitious terrorist attack and is based on real testimonies gathered from a variety of terrorist incidents. Having supplied the original production, White Light was called upon again to provide the lighting equipment for the show’s West End run.
   The lighting designer for the show is Christopher Nairne, who is the current recipient of OffWestEnd’s Best Lighting Designer Award. He comments: “The director and designer settled on a stripped back look for the show: a bare black stage with grey ash built up towards the corners, and a semi-circle of six chairs for the PTSD support group which features throughout the play. I wanted to create a design that evoked the banality of group therapy with hints of the apocalyptic nature of what had occurred.”
   As many of the earlier scenes are monologues, Christopher lit these sections with a simple centre stage spot, with dimmer specials on the chairs behind to ensure that all of the characters on stage were still involved in the action.
   Christopher adds: “I have worked with the director before and we were both keen to use fluorescent striplights, which ultimately became the anchor of my design. I suggested a total of six so that they could become representative of the six characters on stage. They were also useful for the therapy scenes throughout the play as using them all at once gave a much brighter state”.
   Having designed the original production, Christopher was invited to recreate his work at Trafalgar Studios. He comments: “Helpfully, the two venues are fairly similar in terms of scale and technical specifications. The key difference is that Trafalgar 2 is semi-thrust, so we knew that some reblocking would have to take place to allow for sightlines and entrances. Also, the lower rig height meant that the shorter throw distance limited our beam spread.”
   Alongside the striplights, Christopher used a visible line of par cans as a backdrop; the rest of the rig consisted of small fresnels, Source Four profiles and birdie uplighters.
   BU21 has now opened in the West End and once again achieved critical acclaim including an array of 4- and 5-star reviews. Christopher comments: “The show is a really powerful piece of theatre and one which I’m extremely proud to be a part of. I am grateful to WL for being so accommodating during both the original and current run as it has certainly made the whole process run much smoother.”
   BU21 runs at Trafalgar Studios until 18 February.
   Photos courtesy of David Monteith-Hodge and Tristram Kenton.