Tag Archive: Hannah Price

1. White Light is Down and Out at the Orwell Foundation

   20 June 2018 09:57 Leave a Comment

   On 6^th June, George Orwell’s classic book Down and Out in Paris and London was brought to life in an immersive performance at Stone Nest in London’s West End. The event was a collaboration between The Orwell Foundation, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Libby Brodie Productions and UCL’s Festival of Culture. Having supplied last year’s unabridged reading of Orwell’s 1984: LIVE, White Light was called upon to provide the complete technical solutions on this occasion.

   Down and Out: LIVE was supported by Arts Council England and featured a lighting and projection design by Robbie Butler, who also designed 1984: LIVE. Robbie comments: “The brief for the show was focused heavily on the video design. I worked closely with the brilliant director Hannah Price who spoke to me about her thoughts on the type of projection she wanted to see, along with other concepts she wanted to experiment with throughout the five hour-long script”.

   Whereas 1984: LIVE was a reading of Orwell’s novel from start to finish, Down and Out: LIVE offered a slightly different interpretation. Robbie explains: “Whilst the project was constructed around extracts from Down and Out, these were interspersed with poetry and testimonies from people who are currently homeless; with the text still being extremely relevant in today’s society. Because it’s a marathon of an event, it’s quite difficult to plan intricately given the short lead-in period (we had a week of rehearsals for a five hour show). I had to devote most of my preparatory time making and rendering the video content. Additionally, because much of the action was improvised or potentially needed to be altered as a result of the immersive audience layout, the lighting rig had to be versatile; resulting in the show being busked from a bank of pre-defined presets”.

   Robbie approached WL to supply him with his perfect rig. He comments: “Versatility was key. I had two generic Source Fours for the readers and four Lustr 2s to act as a general wash in the centre of the room and cover the two platforms at either end. I used wireless uplighters to accentuate the building’s architecture and four JB A5s to help highlight certain areas of the playing space as needed. And, of course, there was also a Unique Hazer there for good measure – along with some festoons!”.

   WL also supplied the rigging, headsets, speakers, projection and sound desk. All of the equipment was delivered to Stone Nest the day prior to the event and was set-up on-site on the morning of performance.

   Robbie adds: “Stone Nest is an incredible venue. A former chapel, the interior features beautiful red brick walls and concrete gothic arches and windows. Architecturally, it’s a dream to light because it just looks like a really well built set. What isn’t ideal is that we had quite a large amount of light leakage on what turned out to be a sunny performance day. However, as a found space, you could really do some interesting things with it and it was great to work on a show there”.

   The event was completely free to attend and live-streamed to a global audience, whilst also being screened in libraries across the UK.

   Robbie concludes: “As always, WL were on top form and proved to be absolutely invaluable in getting this event off the ground. Their support really is second to none”.

   Photos courtesy of Robin Boot Photography.

2. White Light Supports Live Reading of Orwell’s 1984

   13 June 2017 08:13 Comments Off on White Light Supports Live Reading of Orwell’s 1984

   For the first time ever in the UK, George Orwell’s all-time classic 1984 was read in its entirety at Senate House, University of London last week. Produced by Libby Brodie Productions in association with The Orwell Foundation and UCL’s Festival of Culture, the book was read live by over 50 leading cultural figures in an epic 12 hour read through. Having worked on numerous bespoke performances, WL was called upon to provide the lighting, sound and video equipment.

   1984 LIVE took place on Tuesday 6^th June and was part of the UCL Festival of Culture 2017.  The reading was streamed live to libraries across the country, as well as online where it was being watched across the globe. The reading was directed by Hannah Price with a lighting design by Robbie Butler, a previous recipient of the ETC Award from the Association of Lighting Designers. Robbie states: “This was a really unique project for a whole range of reasons! One of these included the pre-production period. Due to the length of the reading, this was something we simply could not rehearse from start to finish. As a result, this meant that the first time we would see the show would be on the day itself. Therefore meticulous planning was absolutely key”.

   As part of his preparations, Robbie visited the space several times. He comments: “The reading took place at Senate House as this was Orwell’s inspiration behind the Ministry of Truth which features in the novel. That said, the space itself is not traditionally a performance venue. The room is very art-deco and features lots of marble. Therefore, while it might be lovely to look at, it’s not very practical! Similarly, there is a very limited power supply in the room which meant I had to cater my rig accordingly”.

   Robbie drew on a range of WL’s equipment including Martin Aura XBs,  CORE Colour Point IP65 Battery Uplighters, ETC Source 4 Series 2 Lustr+ LED Profiles and Philips SL PAR150 Zoom RGBW Washes. Robbie adds: “I wanted to draw on as much LED as possible due to the limited power within the space. In terms of my artistic vision, I’d worked closely with Hannah who told me how she envisaged the reading going. As this was first and foremost a reading of the book, the novel had to be the main focus. The role of the lighting was to help influence certain sections and hopefully enhance the audience’s experience”.

   Alongside the lighting equipment, WL supplied the audio support which included EM Acoustics EMS 61 Loudspeakers and DPA dfine Double Ear Omni Headsets. Robbie was also the Video Designer and drew on WL’s fleet of Christie projectors for the video content that was used throughout.

   With the Senate House being in constant use, this meant that Robbie and his team had a limited set up time. He comments: “The get in actually started at 5pm the night before and we worked all the way through until 1am the next morning for everything to be in place and ready for the morning. As this was the first time we had used any technical equipment within the space, we needed to ensure it was working perfectly”.

   Speakers on the event included Richard Blair (George Orwell’s Adopted Son), Billy Bragg, Ken Loach, Mark Ravenhill and Bonnie Greer. 1984 LIVE was a huge success and the entire reading is now available to watch on the Orwell Foundation website.

   Robbie adds: “This was a fantastic project and one I was proud to have worked on. I want to thank everyone involved and in particular the team at WL who were unbelievably helpful throughout”.

   Photos courtesy of Robin Boot.