Tag Archive: Martin MAC TW1

1. White Light Brings Night of the Living Dead to Life

   3 May 2019 13:23 Leave a Comment

   

   White Light has supplied the lighting equipment for Night of the Living Dead LIVE! which is currently spooking audiences at The Pleasance Theatre, London.

   Based on the iconic George A. Romero film, Night of the Living Dead LIVE! tells the story of a group of strangers holed up in a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania. With hoards of the undead approaching, will any of them make it out alive? The show is lit by Nic Farman, who comments: “I hadn’t actually seen the film version prior to working on the show but I allowed myself to watch the first 20 minutes. This was so I could get a feel for the style of the cinematography, but also not become fixated on recreating the film on stage from a lighting point of view”.

   Despite not wanting to be an imitation of the film, the production did remain true to the Romero classic. Nic explains: “The interesting thing about the show is that we’ve tried to recreate it as if it were a black and white film. The Designer Diego Pitarch has created a monochrome set of the interior of the farmhouse in which the action is set. The costumes are all black and white and the actors are in make up to appear greyscale. My brief was to buy into that concept and to keep us in a black and white world, which was quite daunting, especially as creating a rich colour palette is often part of my work.

   

   He continues: “The first act stays quite faithful to the film, but as the show moves forward, it becomes a number of ‘what if’ scenarios. As a result, towards the end I was able to start sneaking colour back in as the action on stage gets more frantic and ridiculous. It’s been interesting working out how to create certain parts of the show when colour has been stripped away. For example, there are a lot of fire effects through the show outside of the scenic windows so we spent a long time playing with intensity effects with pure white light to achieve those looks”.

   To achieve his design, Nic approached WL to draw on a range of suitable fixtures. He explains: “We have a number of Martin MAC Viper Performances on this show which are mainly used as a gobo wash in the wonderful pure white they produce. We also use their animation wheel capabilities each time the show ‘resets’ for the next scenario. Initially I thought the limited colour palette would be restricting but, as the show developed, it became really striking. It came down to trying a number of options, including introducing some blue key light in an attempt to sell the black and white. In the end we pulled all colour for the majority of the show and the quality of the white light output the Vipers have gave us the best results”.

   He adds: “The key light through the windows and doorways is a combination of Showline SL Bar 640s, Chroma-Q Colorforce 12s and GLP XBar 20s. A number of High End Dataflashes gave me the classic horror strobe which works to reveal a number of the ‘Ghouls’. The rig is completed by Martin Mac TW1s which allowed me to be flexible on specials with a nice soft edge. This was really important to give us control of what we were seeing on stage as we stripped back to near darkness in trying to create as scary an atmosphere as possible”.

   

   Night of the Living Dead LIVE! runs until 8^th June 2019. It has been extremely well received by audiences and has also been nominated for a host of OffWestEnd Awards, including Best Lighting Design.

   Nic concludes: “Thanks, as ever, goes to Jonathan Haynes and Chris Delaney at WL for their support throughout. Also thanks to Production Electrician Sam House, Nick Ward and the rest of the team at The Pleasance who worked hard to ensure the show developed as I hoped”.

   Photos courtesy of Clare Bilyard.

2. White Light Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Southwark Playhouse

   2 May 2019 17:01 Leave a Comment

   

   White Light has recently supplied the lighting equipment for Ain’t Misbehavin’ which has recently opened at the Southwark Playhouse.

   Ain’t Misbehavin’ celebrates the legendary jazz musician Fats Waller and his energetic, exuberant and effervescent music. Set largely in the music halls of 1920s Manhattan, it is directed by Tyrone Huntley and features a lighting design by James Whiteside. James comments: “Ain’t Misbehavin’ is a show that’s all about the music. There’s no narrative as such and the cast of five and on-stage band work really hard to celebrate Fat’s iconic sound. I wasn’t particularly familiar with his work so part of my preparation was listening to this, observing rehearsals and then working with other creatives to understand how the lighting could be used to support the show.

   James continues: “Our designer, Takis, created a highly reflective gold set which, along with the music, suggested the rich, warm tone of the lighting. A highly reflective floor can sometimes be tricky to light, but rather than fight against this, I wanted to see what it could offer in terms of my design. For instance, whilst it does throw the light around a lot, in the context of this show it proved helpful as there are some lovely moments with performers caught in its reflection”.

   

   The show is a co-production between Mercury Theatre Colchester, Paul Taylor-Mills and Tamasha Theatre Company. As a result, it initially opened at the Mercury in Colchester before transferring to the Southwark Playhouse; something James had to take into account for his design. He comments: “The Mercury and Southwark are two very different spaces. For the initial performances in Colchester, we added audience seating on stage to help replicate Southwark’s thrust stage; something which would prove useful in tailoring my design before we arrived in London”.

   To acquire the fixtures he required, James contacted WL. He comments: “Thinking about the rig, I knew that moving lights for specials would be essential. I was keen to stick with tungsten sources due to the 1920s look and feel of show, hence the Martin Mac TW1s were an obvious choice. I would almost always use the narrow lens sets on the TW1s which we did in Colchester, but for Southwark’s much lower rig, we swapped to the standard lenses which worked a treat. To add some colour in the arches of the set upstage, we used seven Showline SL Strip 400 LED battens mounted vertically behind and to skim across each portal. WL also supplied some additional dimming for the chasing light bulbs around the portals, three 2kW fresnels to supplement Southwark’s in house rig and an ETC ION to run it all. So whilst this may not have been the most ‘state-of-the-art’ rig, it did need very specific fixtures – all of which WL was able to source’.

   

   The show has now opened to critical acclaim and will run until 1^st June 2019.

   James adds: “As ever, creating the lighting is a team effort, so I am hugely grateful to my Associate Kiaran Kesby who also programmed the show in Colchester and Southwark. There’s also Mike Smith, our Production Electrician for Southwark, the crews at Southwark and Colchester and, of course, WL for their enduring support throughout”.

   – End-

3. 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.

4. White Light Keeps The American Clock Ticking at Old Vic

   21 February 2019 15:26 Leave a Comment

   

   White Light has provided the lighting equipment for Arthur Miller’s The American Clock which recently opened at the Old Vic Theatre, London.

   The American Clock portrays the devastation that American citizens experienced when the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began in 1929. The play uses an ensemble cast to explore the lives of several families across several cities. It is directed by the renowned Rachel Chavkin and features a lighting design by Olivier Award-winning Natasha Chivers. Natasha comments: “This is an epic play that manages to tell a huge story about an entire nation. Rachel wanted to create something quite extraordinary in which we put the audience right into this extraordinary time in American history. Part of this included having audience members on stage. What this means is that the Old Vic stage has now been turned so that it’s practically ‘in the round’. When I’ve lit shows here before it’s always been ‘end on’ so this was a new experience for me. My brief then became to ensure I adapted my design to the space and that the lighting was strong from both sides”.

   

   To achieve this, Natasha looked at a range of different lighting options. She comments: “Initially, we toyed with the idea of using a tracking moving light system as well as followspots due to the fact that we needed to stay with the characters as they moved round the revolving stage. We eventually decided to go for one large moving light rig which would light everything. What’s really interesting about this play is that it’s a combination of your traditional Arthur Miller play coupled with music pieces (although it’s very much not a musical). As a result, it meant the design I created needed a mix of tungsten, LED and discharge lighting”.

   Natasha would use the tungsten lighting for the play’s more traditional scenes whereas LED was used for the sparkly musical numbers and the discharge was used to create a glossy feel. She worked closely with WL’s Senior Account Handler Jedd Hamilton to draw on her ideal rig. This included Martin MAC Viper Performances, ETC Series 2 Lustrs, ROBE Robin DL7S Profiles, ETC Revolutions and Martin MAC TW1s.

   

   Natasha explains: “I was really impressed with the ROBE DL7s which offered that perfect cross between serious moments and musical numbers. The TW1s provided me with the tungsten feeling I needed as did the Revolutions. I then drew on the Vipers to fill in for the longer shots”.

   With the show being performed in the round, this meant that Natasha had to ensure the lighting worked from all angles. She explains: “During the technical set-up, the first thing we did was go to the circle section as we had to ensure we were lighting actors from both the standard auditorium (front) yet that these were also lit for the audience sitting on the seats upstage. When focussing the moving lights, this meant we could clearly see where the shadows were on the floor in order to then ensure we were on target”.

   The American Clock has now opened and will run until March 30^th 2019.

   Photos courtesy of Manual Harlan.

5. White Light Makes the Newsies at ArtsEd

   13 February 2019 15:24 Leave a Comment

   

   White Light recently supplied the lighting equipment for Disney’s Broadway-smash musical Newsies which recently had its UK premiere at ArtsEd.

   Set in turn-of-the-century New York, Newsies tells the story of Jack Kelly, a charismatic newsboy and leader of a band of teenage ‘newsies’. When titans of publishing raise distribution prices at the newsboys’ expense, Jack rallies the newsies together against the unfair conditions to fight for what’s right! The show was a smash when it played on Broadway and the lighting designer for the UK premiere is Nic Farman. Nic comments: “I hadn’t seen the original Broadway production but the moment I read the script and listened to the score, I knew it was going to be a great show to work on. The key for the creative team was creating a production that had the high production values associated with a show of a larger scale. It was also incredibly exciting as it’s the first time the show has been done in the UK; so we knew the expectations that this carried”.

   Having become familiar with the show, Nic began to formulate his design. He comments: “I approached the show in the same way I do with my other work: developing a concept that helps frame the action that’s appropriate to the location and time that the piece is set. I was lucky to be working with Luke Sheppard (Director) and David Woodhead (Set Designer) who had created a beautiful set that was full of texture. So a lot of my initial work was finding ways to light the architecture on the stage cohesively which promoted that texture. We also had a clear idea of the colour palette we wanted to use which included lots of cold whites moving through to rusty warm tones and to dial in saturation and help lift the musical numbers”.

   

   Once Nic knew what he wanted his design to look like, he approached WL to supply him with the fixtures to achieve this. He explains: “Early in the process I sat down with WL’s Business Development Manager Jonathan Haynes to discuss trying out the VL2600 Profiles on the show. I knew having a versatile moving profile overhead was going to be important and I was really pleased with how they performed. These would go on to become the real workhorses in the production. I asked a lot of them, doing live shuttering and tracking the action, which they dealt with consistently. They’re also nice and punchy which gave me good options for impact cues.

   Nic adds: “The varied colour palette also called for some flexibility (especially as time was tight for the get in and focus) so ETC Lustr 2’s and ColorSource Spots gave me options for both set dressing and side light. Completing the rig were Martin MAC TW1s which I love using for their warm tungsten output and soft edge”.

   

   As this marked the show’s UK premiere, there was a lot of anticipation and the entire run quickly sold out. Nic comments: “This was just a really special project to work on. It’s a wonderful show with brilliant music, so it was a joy to get to put my design spin on it. As a creative team, I think we created a version of the show which sat really well in the intimacy of the Andrew Lloyd Webber Theatre. I’d like to say a big thanks to the team at ArtsEd – Di, Phil, Chris, Molly, Leah and Fran for their hard work in delivering the show”.

   Alongside Newsies, Nic is lighting the UK tour of David Walliams’ Billionaire Boy, which WL is also supplying. Nic comments: “It was great to work with WL once again on this project, especially Jono and Chris, who offered brilliant support in helping me realise my design. It was another example of the fantastic service which I have come to expect from them”.

   Photos courtesy of Robert Workman

   CREDITS

   Director – Luke Sheppard
   Choreographer – Ashley Nottingham
   Set & Costume Designer – David Woodhead
   Lighting Designer – Nic Farman
   Sound Designer – Tom Marshall
   Musical Director – Laura Bangay

6. White Light Supplies Rothschild and Sons Musical

   7 February 2018 09:59 Comments Off on White Light Supplies Rothschild and Sons Musical

   Based on the Tony Award-winning musical The Rothschilds (1970), Rothschild and Sons tells the remarkable story of the Rothschild family and how their influence would eventually change the world. It recently opened at London’s Park Theatre and marks the musical’s UK premiere. The lighting designer is Jack Weir and the equipment was supplied by White Light.

   Jack comments: “For my design, I worked closely with the director, Jeff B.Moss, who was very keen for characters to appear out of nowhere, with a key sense of darkness constantly surrounding them. Traditionally, a lot of musicals are more suited to the look of vivid and saturated pictures with light beams cutting through haze in the air for sensory excitement. However, this differed slightly with this show due to a back wall”.

   The back wall, which was covered entirely in gauze, not only had to disappear when it wasn’t required during the show but also used as a projection surface throughout the show; meaning Jack had to avoid any form of light spill on it, whilst still achieving a sense of backlight to provide depth in each scene. He explains: “By trying to draw attention away from the back wall, alongside a predominately dark costume design, the show ultimately required a muted pallet of pastel colours, playing mostly with the use of black and white. Another practical aspect of my design was, owing to the Park Theatre’s thrust configuration space, there were only three main lighting positions, meaning everything was either on the circle front or overhead”.

   To bring his design to life, Jack approached WL, along with SGM, to supply him with the exact equipment he required. He explains: “I drew on a range of SGM units as they were small enough to position on the circle front, meaning that I had a moving light position, with zoom and full colour control in front of stage. This proved vital for cross lighting the cast in scenes which used full floor and wall projection. They also deliver a brilliant white, which nicely matched the look and feel of the video design by Louise Rhodes-Brown”.

   Jack also drew on the ETC Source 4 Lustr 2s and the Philips VL1100s. He adds: “The VL1100s are in constant use throughout the show, either as specials to define areas on the stage with the framing and diffusion features or as gobo washes. The Lustrs provided  a huge amount of pastel colour in a position which is as close to crosslight as I could get; particularly the minty green hue used in the number ‘Everything’. I also drew on an old favourite, the MAC TW1, which are still my favourite fixture and provided an invaluable injection of warm tungsten light in a defined and controlled way”.

   The show has now opened and will run until 17^th February.

   Jack comments: “This is a really great show and I’m proud of the look we’ve managed to achieve. I’d like to thank SGM for their generous support of this production. I’d also like to thank WL’s Jonathan Haynes and Jim Dewhurst for their continued support, not only when delivering the kit but throughout the entire production period”.

   Follow Jack on Twitter – @weirdLX

   Photos courtesy of Pamela Raith.

7. White Light Hits the Right Notes for The Beggar’s Opera

   26 June 2017 14:00 Comments Off on White Light Hits the Right Notes for The Beggar’s Opera

   Written by John Gay and with music arranged by Benjamin Britten, The Beggar’s Opera is one of the most renowned folk operas of all time. Since its first performance at Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre, London in 1728, there have been thousands of productions across the globe. The latest comes from Birmingham Conservatoire who recently performed the show at the city’s Crescent Theatre. As a leading lighting supplier to UK theatre, White Light was called upon to provide the lighting equipment.

   Upon its initial performance, The Beggar’s Opera parodied life in 18^th century London and poked particular fun at the fashionable Handel operas of its day. This revival from Birmingham’s Conservatoire begins as a modernised version of the classic story and features a lighting design by Charlie Morgan Jones. Charlie comments: “This production of The Beggar’s Opera starts as an up-to-date retelling, offering something fresh and vibrant for its audience. For my design, I worked closely with Colin Judges (Set Designer), Matthew Sharp (Opera Director) and Jack Ramplin (Associate Lighting Designer) to create a feel which we felt served this story”.

   The creative team decided to embark on recreating the feel of a dilapidated theatre. Charlie states: “Colin created this incredible design which was essentially made up of theatrical flats and scattered rubbish. It really brought to life this sense of derelict and decay and this was something I wanted to highlight in my lighting”.

   To achieve this, Charlie drew on WL’s extensive hire inventory. He states: “Whenever I light a show, it’s not so much about how I think it should look, but how I think it should feel. I wanted to create this sense of debauchery within Peachum’s Den and stamp my own vision on this. Similarly, with the Tavern scene, I used a range of deep red and deep orange lights which all felt appropriate for this particular interpretation of the show”.

   Charlie drew on a range of GLP X4 Impression Bars, Martin MAC TW1s along with an ETC Ion Desk. He states: “This is the first time I’ve used the X4 Bars and they made such a huge difference on this show. We had two staircases in the piece and the Bars were positioned on the top of each. By doing so, they offered a swathe of light down each one, allowing complete coverage. They are also superb at dimming, colour and zoom giving me a whole host of options.

   

   He adds: “With the TW1s, whilst this is always fantastic fixture in my mind, it was also a very practical one for this production. As we were in the Crescent’s studio space, I needed a moving light that was powerful, had a variety of colour options yet wasn’t too noisy – which it exactly what the TW1 offered”.

   The Beggar’s Opera marks the ninth show that Charlie has lit with the Birmingham Conservatoire – an organisation he has grown close to over the years. He comments: “I have worked with the Conservatoire since 2014 and have developed a brilliant collaborative relationship with them; especially Michael Barry and Jack Ramplin. This was yet another great production from the company and an absolute joy to work on”.

   Photos courtesy of Graeme Braidwood.

8. White Light Provides Lighting for The Philanthropist

   28 April 2017 09:09 Comments Off on White Light Provides Lighting for The Philanthropist

   The Philanthropist has been delighting audiences across the globe since it first premiered at the Royal Court in 1970. It is now making a welcome return to the West End in a brand-new production at the Trafalgar Studios. Directed by Simon Callow, this latest version stars some of television’s brightest stars, including Matt Berry, Simon Bird, Lily Cole and Tom Rosenthal. Having already supplied shows at the Trafalgar Studios this year, White Light was called upon once again to provide the lights for The Philanthropist.

   Written by Christopher Hampton, the play tells the story of Philip, a floundering professor of philology, who hosts a series of visitors with whom he discusses marriage, sex, anagrams and the meaning of life. Little do they realise that in the outside world the Prime Minister and his entire cabinet have been assassinated…The lighting designer is Olivier Award-winner Mike Robertson. He comments: “I remember seeing The Philanthropist many moons ago and being struck by the extraordinary coup de théâtre at the beginning of the play. For this version, Simon has approached it with a really fresh vibrancy; whether it’s the younger cast or the set. It feels like a very modern take on what is now a classic piece”.

   

   This reinvention had an impact on Mike’s design and he worked closely with set designer Libby Watson. He states: “What’s brilliant about this set is that there is not a bad seat in the house and each one sees it from a different perspective. There is also a lot of clever trickery that occurs throughout. Therefore, my approach was to create a style of heightened naturalism. Whereas everything appears to represent reality in the theatrical sense, there is a slight change in the colour and quality of the source which hopefully makes the audience question what is the truth”.

   Similarly, as the play is set in one room, Mike had to work alongside the practicalities of this. He states: “As there is a roof over the set, there’s actually not that many places to put lights. Also it is white so if you are not careful it can become a giant mirror. Similarly, the stage is pushed out into the auditorium meaning this limited the space for units even further. That said, my main consideration when choosing the rig was ensuring that it could colour mix, frame and make as little noise as possible”.

   Mike drew on a mixture of ETC Revolutions, Martin MAC TW1s, ETC Source Fours and Philips Vari*Lite VL3500Q Spots for his rig. He also added additional house lighting within the Trafalgar in order to further the fresh feeling of the performance.

   The show has now opened and will run until July 22^nd.

   Mike adds: “I’ve had a great time working on this revival alongside the warm staff at Trafalgar, particularly Michael Corcoran who is the venue’s Head of Lighting. I am also grateful, as ever, to WL for providing top quality service once again and supplying brilliant equipment in record time”.

   Photos courtesy of Manual Harlan.

9. White Light Reaches Echo’s End at Salisbury Playhouse

   4 April 2017 13:56 Comments Off on White Light Reaches Echo’s End at Salisbury Playhouse

   Currently playing at the Salisbury Playhouse, Echo’s End tells the story of a young couple in 1915 Wiltshire who find themselves caught up in the turmoil of troubled times. It is written by award-winning playwright and novelist Barney Norris, directed by Alice Hamilton and features a lighting design by Howard Hudson. As one of the leading lighting suppliers to UK regional theatre, White Light was called upon to provide the equipment.

   Echo’s End marks Howard’s fifth production at the Salisbury Playhouse.  He comments: “Salisbury is a great venue and this is a brilliant new play that tells a unique story about that part of the world. The entire play is set outside on the Salisbury Plain, so one of the main requirements for me was to achieve a sense of natural light and the epic undulating scale of that area at different times of day”.

   As with most of his designs, Howard had to work closely alongside the set design, which in this case reflected outdoor Wiltshire. He adds: “A major element of Tom Rogers’ design was a 14-metre-wide printed cloud cyc at the back of the stage which allowed us to create a wide variety of different looks for the eight scenes, ranging from dull, overcast grey days, to strong, deeply saturated sunsets. This was also useful for the transitions between scenes as it provided a really great and varied backdrop for the company to be silhouetted against”.

   Prior to the production opening, Howard visited WL’s Wimbledon base where he was able to experiment with a range of fixtures before adding them to his rig. He comments: “WL were very helpful in letting me come down to have a look at the Robert Juliat Dalis 860 units and demonstrate them to ensure they were suitable for the show. Using new equipment can sometimes be slightly frightening so it was hugely beneficial to be able to see them beforehand”.

   For the rest of his rig, Howard drew on WL’s extensive inventory to ensure he had every fixture he required. He comments: “I drew TW1s overhead and front of house which allowed for flexibility and provided the large coverage needed for such an expansive set. The cyc was bounced from behind using the Robert Juliat Dalis units. These offered bright, sophisticated colour mixing and high-quality fades meaning they were the ideal fixture for this purpose. Jon Roache, who programmed the show, suggested we split each unit into four to allow us to apply gradients and colour swipes to the cyc to refine the transitions and allow blends of subtle pastel shades but also have the option for strong colour. Overhead the workhorses of the rig were two 5kw fresnels with scrollers which worked with the cyc as a sort of ‘first layer’ for each scene”.

   The show has now opened and received rave reviews from both critics and audiences alike.

   Howard states: “It was interesting to do a play completely set outside and on a more epic scale than my previous work down in Salisbury. With it also being a new play, there were changes made to the script from the first day of rehearsal so that certainly kept me on my toes!”.

   Echo’s End marks one of several productions that WL is supplying up and down the country, with others including Billy Elliot, Evita, La Cage Aux Folles, Matthew Bourne’s Red Shoes, Grease and Woman in Black.

   Howard adds: “I had a great experience on this production, particularly as I got to work again with Peter Hunter who is one of the longest serving electricians in the country and a bit of a legend – a font of knowledge and a privilege to work alongside! I am also thankful to WL for their continued support from the initial design stages, all the way through to opening night”.

   Photos courtesy of Helen Murray.

10. White Light is Out of Order for UK Theatre Tour

    21 March 2017 09:44 Comments Off on White Light is Out of Order for UK Theatre Tour

    Winner of the 1991 Olivier Award for Comedy of the Year, Ray Cooney’s Out of Order is making a triumphant return to the stage. Starring television favourites such as Shaun Williamson and Sue Holderness, this classic farce will now embark on a nationwide tour. With its strong reputation as a leading supplier to UK touring theatre, White Light is providing the lighting equipment on this production.

    Out of Order tells the story of Richard Willey, a Government Junior Minister, whose plan to spend the evening with one of the oppositions typists goes disastrously wrong…The revival is being produced by Tom O’Connell and the lighting designer is Jack Weir. Jack comments: “Out of Order is a purposefully over-the-top, hilarious farce and typical of Ray Cooney’s work. The show takes place in real time, in the one location of a hotel room overlooking the London skyline. My role was to light the action and highlight the farcical elements which pervade throughout.

    He adds: “The set features several doors (with characters frequently coming on and off stage) and this really drives the action of the piece. Therefore, on a practical level, I had to ensure the play had enough coverage and that we believed the environment which designer, Rebecca Brower, had created”.

    To achieve this, Jack drew on WL’s extensive equipment range to achieve his design. He comments: “I specifically chose the Martin MAC TW1. These offer a great deal of flexibility; something which is vital when touring a show like this. When we visit venues, we have essentially less than a day for the fit up so time is definitely of the essence. Similarly, we are visiting venues that range vastly in size from the Palace Theatre in Southend to the Manchester Opera House. Therefore, we need to have equipment that is able to adapt to this and maintain the look of the show”.

    Other equipment includes ETC Sensor Tour Dimmers, ETC Source Four Profiles and an ETC Ion Console.

    Jack also had to take into consideration the front cloth which features at the top of each act. He comments: “I used a front wash which features four Martin MAC Aura LEDs on the front bar along with two MAC Quantum Profiles. These are excellent units for touring, owing to their small size, LED technology and weight”.

    Whereas the play first premiered more than 25 years ago, this revival has been updated for a contemporary audience. Jack comments: “The action is very much set in the modern day. What this means is that I’ve not had to create a vintage feel out of necessity but rather have been able to utilise more modern LED technology in addition to tungsten for my design”.

    Out of Order has now opened and is currently running at the Theatre Royal in Brighton. Next week, it will visit the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury before travelling to various venues until July this year.  Jack adds: “This is a really ‘laugh out loud’ show and will no doubt have audiences up and down the UK in stitches. It’s been a great experience to design and I’m grateful to WL for all of their help throughout”.

    Photos courtesy of Darren Bell.