Tag Archive: Jon Clark

1. White Light Supplies Evita at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

   9 September 2019 14:07 Leave a Comment

   

   White Light has once again supplied the lighting equipment for the entire Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre season, which recently culminated in a revival of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic musical Evita.

   Established in 1932, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is one of the largest theatres in London. Situated in the beautiful surroundings of a Royal Park, both its stage and auditorium are entirely uncovered and every year it hosts a season of bold and dynamic productions. This year was no exception, with productions of Our Town, Hansel and Gretel and A Midsummer Night’s Dream all achieving critical acclaim. The final show of the season was Evita which was directed by Jamie Lloyd, designed by Soutra Gilmour and lit by Oliver Award-winner Jon Clark.

   Jon explains: “Soutra and Jamie chose to set Evita on a dilapidated seating bleacher, which to all intents and purposes looks as though it may have been sat in Regent’s Park for the past eighty years! We wanted to make a direct connection between the outdoor environment and the production; one being informed by the other. The suggestion of a sports stadium echoes the environment of dictatorial political rallies of the past, which has a resonance with themes of Peronism highlighted in the production.

   

   He continues: “Jamie was keen that the production and lighting design harnessed the dynamism and energy of an outdoor music festival. We were particularly drawn to Beyonce’s iconic performance at Coachella last year. Contrasting with the music festival aesthetic is a starker, directional lighting language, more synonymous with contemporary European opera”.

   To achieve his design, Jon approached the WL Hires team, who have looked after the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre all season.

   The lighting in the show plays with the tension between open white tungsten Par Cans and colder LED and Arc sources. The set comprises of eight wide steps rising from the front of stage which is unapologetically rectangular in its form. The key lighting positions are informed by this and much of the functional light is delivered as uplight, travelling up the rake of steps. 

   Jon explains: “We utilised the new GLP Fusion Stick 10s as the cold uplight source, which provides an intense controllable light in a very discreet sized unit and contrasts with a line of Par 64s in the same position. Upstage, nestled into the roof of the band structure are more Par 64s, arranged into clusters, which run the width of the set. This time the Pars contrast with two continuous runs of GLP Impression X-BAR 20s which describe the architectural form of the set and provide a colder, more dynamic look. Built into the risers between each step are 56 2-Cell Molefays, which act as blinders and are intended as rock n’ roll inspired abstraction of the classic Broadway 42nd Street aesthetic. They’re also used to evoke the feel of Evita arriving in a big city for the first time in the Buenos Aires number and create energy at other times. Under the set, the tungsten Molefays contrast with two banks of Martin Atomic LED Strobes and SGM X5 LED Strobes, which are used as intense and constant flood sources.

   

   Jon continues: “From the outset, I wanted to create a much higher backlight position than is normally achievable at the Park. Adam Squires and Andy Beardmore at the Theatre did a fantastic job of sourcing two 14m high truss towers, which enabled us to create two key backlight positions upstage of the set, nestled amongst the trees. Each tower supports a solitary MAC Viper Wash DX, utilised at various moments as a pseudo backlight follow spot, to suggest the scale of a stadium and to heighten the dictatorial protagonists. These are all key to delivering the final image of Evita, extracted from all that has gone before”.

   The show has now opened to critical acclaim and marks yet another successful season at Regent’s Park. It also marks a very busy summer for Jon who is currently working on the Broadway transfers of Pinter’s Betrayal (also directed by Jamie Lloyd) and The Inheritance, on which WL has supplied some of the equipment.

   Jon concludes: “I’m really proud of what we achieved with Evita. I’d like to thank Head of Lighting Adam Squire, programmer Vic Brennan, Assistant LD Tamykha Patterson, Charlie Jones and the whole lighting team at Regent’s Park. As ever, the support from WL has been first class.

   – End –

   Photos courtesy of Marc Brenner.

2. Jon Clark Wins Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design

   8 April 2019 17:35 Leave a Comment

   

   Established in 1976, the Olivier Awards celebrate the world-class status of London theatre and are recognised as Britain’s most prestigious stage honours. This year’s Award ceremony took place yesterday evening at the Royal Albert Hall. White Light was once again on hand to supply the lighting equipment for the main ceremony as well as the complete technical solutions for the post show party. The company also sponsored the prestigious Best Lighting Design Award, which was won by Jon Clark for The Inheritance at the Young Vic and Noel Coward Theatre.

   WL’s Managing Director Bryan Raven comments: “We were delighted to sponsor the Best Lighting Design Award once again; something we have done for over five years now. The standard this year, as ever, was extremely high and we had supplied three of the four shows nominated. We are absolutely over the moon for Jon who has picked up his first-ever Olivier Award. Having provided the lighting for both the Young Vic run and the West End transfer, we were lucky enough to see his amazing work on The Inheritance first-hand and were thrilled to see his efforts recognised”.

   Written by Matthew Lopez, The Inheritance is an epic two-part play which asks what it means to be a young gay man in New York after the AIDs crisis. It was directed by Stephen Daldry and received critical acclaim during its sell-out run. Alongside Best Lighting Design, The Inheritance also won Best New Play, Best Director and Best Actor.

   

   The other big winners on the evening included Company which took home Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical, Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical, Best Musical Revival and Best Set Design. WL supplied the lighting for this sell-out production and you can read the full press release here. Other winners included Kobna Holdbrook-Smith for Best Actor in a Musical in The Tina Turner Musical, Summer and Smoke at the Almeida Theatre and Duke of York’s Theatre which won Best Revival, Catherine Zuber for The King and I at the London Palladium who won Best Costume Design and A Monster Calls at the Old Vic which took home Best Entertainment and Family Show. WL supplied the lighting for all of these.

   Bryan comments: “It was fantastic to see such an eclectic range of shows we’ve supplied be recognised as the brilliant productions they are. The last twelve months have been a really exciting and innovative time for London theatre and to play a small part in bringing these ground-breaking shows to life is a privilege. We’d like to say congratulations to all of the winners on the evening”.

   Alongside sponsoring the Best Lighting Design Award, WL provided the lighting equipment for the actual ceremony itself, working closely with Lighting Designer Ben Cracknell. WL also supplied the complete technical production for the post show party that took place at the Natural History Museum.

   Bryan concludes: “The Olivier Awards are an all-encompassing event for us; whether it’s from our sponsorship, supplying the winning shows or providing the technical solutions across the evening. To be part of an event that celebrates theatre and recognises the hard efforts of those involved is a real honour and we look forward to continue supporting the event and SOLT for many years to come”.

   Photos courtesy of Julian Bird and SOLT.