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  1. White Light Supplies You Are Here at Southwark Playhouse

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    Like many venues across the UK, the Southwark Playhouse recently reopened its doors to welcome a live-audience for the first time in months. The opening show was You Are Here, a brand-new musical set on the night of the moon landing. Featuring a lighting design by Alex Musgrave, he approached White Light to provide the lighting equipment. 

    Produced by Grey Area Theatre and starring Wendi Peters, You Are Here is set in Chicago and follows the story of Diana; a suburban housewife who leaves her comfortable life after seeing the moon-landing astronauts take their own giant leaps. By doing so, she enters a fast-changing world filled with unexpected encounters which make her realise just how exciting life can be. Lighting Designer Alex Musgrave comments: “My main brief for the show was to try and evoke the warm feeling of the late 60’s/ early 70’s American architecture whilst ensuring that Diana was always at the forefront of the narrative. I was also tasked with defining multiple different locations around the city of Chicago which Diana visits and my design had to make it clear to the audience where we physically were in the story”. 

    Although rehearsals took place in-person at the Southwark Playhouse’s rehearsal studio, the room capacity limit meant that Alex actually had to work entirely online. He explains: “For me, rehearsals were completely remote, either via Zoom or via videos of various sections of show. Working from the brief, I wanted to design a rig that was ultimately going to give me the greatest amount of flexibility possible. Knowing how many different locations within the story we were going to be visiting, I knew we would need a combination of moving lights and LED fixtures. The set design by Libby Todd is made up of two overlapping moons as the stage area, designed in the thrust configuration, along with a gorgeous wall that looks like every stone fireplace you would find in a 60/70’s era home”. 

    And while the production was going to be performed to a live audience, Alex and the team still had to adhere to the various restrictions in place. He explains: “One of the only major obstacles with this production was trying to mount a show whilst staying within the government guidelines. Singing to a live audience means the cast can’t be any closer than 3m. When you have audience on three sides, that immediately limits the stage area the cast can perform on. One of the many safety measures the Southwark Playhouse have in place are Perspex screens between each ticket booking, so the glare from these was something I had to consider when focusing the show. Similarly, like a lot of shows being made at the moment, there is also an option to live-stream the production so I had to take into account how the lighting would look on screen, as well as on stage”. 

    Knowing all of this, Alex reached out to WL’s Customer Service team to discuss the fixtures needed and the various options that were available. He explains: “After much discussion, I ended up using the ETC ColorSource profile range along with the JB Lighting – VaryLED A7 Zoom wash lights. The A7 Zooms had two uses. Some were allocated to provide backlight for the production and the others were placed in a front-of-house position and used in more of a follow-spot capacity. As such, they are able to track Diana throughout the entire show and are essentially in a different position for almost every single cue. They also zoom to a very nice half body size when I really needed to focus in on certain characters”.  

    He adds: “Because of the brief and the need for some distinction between things such as a lift and train carriages, I knew I needed a moving light with a framing system. I looked at various fixtures and decided to use the Robe DLS Profile fixture which was great as it fell below the weight limit for the rig at the Southwark Playhouse. The Robe DLS profile was placed fairly central as it was used for all of the specific moments which needed the framing system and also the times when I needed to add texture to a scene. In terms of the ColorSource Profiles, these were placed in a general pipe end position which gave me great flexibility and were able to be used as a full stage wash when needed”.     

    The show has now opened and will run until June 12th.  

    Alex concludes: “It’s been great to be back working on a live show and we’re delighted with the response we’re received from audiences. I’d just like to say a big thank you to WL for their continued support throughout this production and look forward to working with them again in the future”. 

    Photos © Callum Heinrich

  2. White Light Supplies All My Sons at the Old Vic

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    White Light recently supplied the lighting equipment for the Old Vic’s production of All My Sons, starring Hollywood legends Sally Field and Bill Pullman.

    Written by Arthur Miller, All My Sons is set in 1940s America and tells the story of a family whose lives are shadowed by the losses of war. This latest version is a co-production between the Old Vic and Headlong and features a lighting design by Richard Howell. Richard comments: “Although All My Sons is obviously an iconic play, I had never seen or read it before working on this production. As a result, I was able to approach with it a completely fresh perspective”.

    On the show, Richard worked closely with renowned director Jeremy Herrin to achieve the specific feel required. He explains: “In terms of my design, the main challenge was to create three distinct looks for the three acts but to also manage the progression between them in a way that felt natural. Although this play is rooted in naturalism it also has a great lyrical quality. The lighting initially needed to establish a naturalistic world. As the lives of the main protagonists fractured over the course of the play, the lighting had to shift into a more expressionistic visual language”.

    Having recently supplied the Glengarry Glen Ross tour which Richard lit, he approached WL to supply the equipment once again on this production.

    Richard comments: “The rig mainly utilised MAC TW1s and MAC Viper Performances. The organic, soft quality of light from the TW1 gave a useful sunlight feel for Acts 1 and 2 whilst the colder, harsher quality of light from the Vipers was useful for the more abstract third act. I also use the Robert Juliat DALIS to light the cyc as well as a mixture of ETC Source Series 2 Lustrs”.

    Due to the layout of both the venue and the set, this meant that Richard had to configure his design accordingly. He explains: “Practically, there was very little depth behind the cyc and a big truck was stored where the lights would normally be. Thanks to some clever rigging by the lighting team at the Old Vic, we were able to fly the ground row in after the truck had moved”.

    The play closes this weekend after embarking on a sell-out run which achieved critical acclaim. It is one of several shows that WL has supplied at the Old Vic over the past year, having worked on Wise Children, A Christmas Carol and The American Clock.  The company will also supply the lighting for the upcoming Present Laughter which opens later this month.

    Richard concludes: “Once again a huge thank you to WL who have been invaluable in helping us find the exact equipment needed for this production”.

    Photos courtesy of Johan Persson.