Tag Archive: Martin MAC Vipers

1. White Light Will Leave to Remain at Lyric Hammersmith

   4 February 2019 12:05 Leave a Comment

   

   White Light has supplied the lighting equipment for Leave to Remain at the Lyric Hammersmith, which features a lighting design by Anna Watson.

   A new play featuring songs by Matt Jones and Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke, Leave to Remain explores the story of a young gay couple whose marriage begins to fracture both of their families. It is told through a blend of movement, drama and 14 original tracks. Anna Watson is the lighting designer and comments: “Leave to Remain is a unique play that has music and choreography at its heart. It’s physical, funny and emotional and is driven by a pumping soundtrack of West African high-life”.

   Anna worked closely with director Robby Graham to help create the perfect look for the show. She explains: “Robby really likes spectacle (as do I) and we both agreed that we wanted to move away from naturalism yet wanted to ensure that certain moments still felt very real. The play features a lot of different locations and moves very fast between scenes; some of which are drug-fuelled, flashbacks or involve abstract movement. The lighting needed to define the different locations and help drive the action through the use of movement, focus and tone. With the choreography being slick, the music urban and the acting raw, I wanted this to be reflected in the lighting”.

   

   To achieve this, Anna and her team approached WL to draw on the fixtures required. She explains: “I had given Shaun Parry (the Chief Electrician) the brief for the hire, specifying that I needed 14 moving profiles with shutters and punch. We went with the Martin MAC Vipers, positioning 10 overhead and 4 on high boom positions. The floor was designed as a grid pattern and we decided that we would use this as a way of dividing the space for the split-stage scenes and to isolate certain characters”.

   Anna also drew on ETC ColourSource Profiles which were used as cross light whereas 30 x RGBW LED fluorescents were installed within the set and used to provide texture and effects in the nightclub scenes, along with adding abstract to the more intimate moments.

   With the show being performed straight after the Lyric’s Christmas pantomime, this meant there was an extremely tight turnaround for the get-in and technical rehearsals. Anna comments: “This is a hugely ambitious production which had a hugely ambitious timeline! Every beat of the show is so technical and with just three days of tech, the team had to work flat out to get everything ready in time. Thankfully, I had a brilliant programmer in Cat Carter who was just terrific”.

   

   The show has now opened to rave reviews and will run until 16^th February.

   Anna concludes: “It’s always a joy working at the Lyric Hammersmith and especially on a show as exciting and original as Leave to Remain. I am really grateful to Shaun Parry and his team for facilitating all of my design ideas and working extremely hard. I’d also like to thank WL for a great service and supplying me with the equipment I needed”.

   Photos courtesy of Helen Maybanks.

2. White Light is a Certain Choice for Heisenberg

   16 October 2017 08:27 Comments Off on White Light is a Certain Choice for Heisenberg

   Following its acclaimed run on Broadway in 2016, Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle made its West End premiere last week. Opening at the Wyndham’s Theatre, the show marks the inaugural production for Elliot and Harper Productions. It is written by Tony and Olivier-Award winning playwright Simon Stephens and stars Kenneth Cranham and Anne-Marie Duff. White Light has been called upon the supply the lighting equipment.

   Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle tells the story of two strangers who meet by chance at a crowded London train station and whose lives are changed forever. The show is lit by the award-winning Paule Constable. She comments: “I read the play and was immediately fascinated by what it had to say about relationships and people in general. The director Marianne Elliot and the Designer Bunny Christie developed a visual concept that drew parallels to the uncertainty principle. What they created was something not at all naturalistic but almost reflecting an arts installation/science experiment”.

   Once the set design was established, Paule created a lighting design that would work alongside this as well as tell the play’s story. Paule explains: “It’s a very stripped back show and feels very exposed. Sometimes this can be quite risky but it worked extremely well for this production. As it’s only two actors on stage throughout, my role was to ensure that their actions resonated and that we used the lighting to pinpoint certain moments”.

   Bunny Christie’s set means that the action is played against what is a huge backlight at the back of stage. Paule comments: “To achieve this effect, I drew on EvenLED panels. Despite it being released almost a decade ago, I don’t think there’s another product out there that can achieve the looks of an EvenLED. For a backdrop of this size, if we didn’t have the EvenLED, then we would have had to build hundreds of LED light bulbs which is obviously not very practical!”.

   

   The unique set design also meant that Paule had very limited positions in which to hang the lighting. She comments: “There are essentially only four places within the theatre in which you can position fixtures. As a result, I have to draw on a range of moving lights. These include ETC Revolutions, Martin MAC Aura XBs, Martin MAC Vipers, Vari*Lite VL1000 and ETC Source 4 Series 2 Lustrs”.

   Paule also drew on the GLP Impression X4 Bar 20s and the show was programmed on an ETC Gio Console.

   Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle has now opened in the West End and will run until January 2018.

   Paule states: “This is a very unique show and a brilliant production to be a part of. I’m proud of what we’ve managed to achieve with such a unique set, especially through the use of EvenLED, and I’m grateful to WL for their support throughout”.

   Photos courtesy of Brinkhoff-Moegenburg.

3. White Light Dragged in for La Cage Aux Folles

   24 January 2017 09:51 Comments Off on White Light Dragged in for La Cage Aux Folles

   With the original Broadway and West End productions winning 11 Tony and 2 Olivier Awards respectively, La Cage Aux Folles is back for what will be its first ever UK tour. Produced by Bill Kenwright Ltd, this classic stage show stars John Partridge and Adrian Zmed and is currently visiting venues up and down the country. As a leading supplier of nationwide theatre tours, White Light was approached to provide the lighting on this occasion.

   La Cage Aux Folles tells the story of Georges and his partner, dazzling drag artiste Albin, who live an idyllic life in St Tropez. Yet when Georges’ son Jean-Michel invites his future parent-in-laws over to dinner, Georges and Albin must try and conceal their vibrant lifestyle for an entire evening… The lighting designer for the production is Ben Cracknell. He comments: “From the offset, I knew this show would require two very clear lighting styles: the action taking place ‘onstage’ within La Cage Aux Folles Club and the action taking place in the other locations. It was important for the storytelling to differentiate between the musical and the show within the musical.

   He adds: “For the scenes away from the club, I utilised a clear dramatic lighting style, approaching it as I would a play. As the drama developed into song, this was subsequently heightened using soft follow spots and a more saturated colour palette. At the other end of the spectrum, when lighting the club scenes, these were more akin to a Vegas-style cabaret show! With such a dynamic range of numbers, combined with Gary McCann’s incredible set, I wanted to make these sequences as thrilling and vibrant as possible”.

   To create his perfect design, Ben drew on WL’s unparalleled lighting range. He comments: “With there often being only one overhead position available when lighting scenes in the various venues, it was crucial that the fixtures offered enough flexibility. I chose Martin MAC Viper Performances for their shuttering and gobo capabilities. These were arrayed in groups of seven to work with the choreography of the La Cage Aux Folles Club onstage numbers. With this arrangement I could pick out the company individually in tableau creating crisp and clean looks. These were also adaptable enough to work for the numerous naturalistic scenes”.

   To enhance the shows taking place within the club scenes, Ben used footlights which consisted of GLP X Bar 20s rigged from the front edge of stage onto a Howard Eaton custom-made shelf which also facilitated positions for sound foldback and front fills. To light the individual performers, he relied heavily on Martin MAC Aura XBs rigged on custom Howard Eaton ladders in the wings. The low crosslight was provided by ETC Source Four Series 2 Lustr Profiles and further Martin MAC Vipers were deployed for front of house coverage.

   Alongside this marking the first time La Cage Aux Folles has played outside of London in the UK, it also marks the first time that Ben has worked on the show. He comments: “Prior to this tour, I had never even seen the show so I was able to approach it with a completely fresh perspective – allowing me to implement my own style”.

    La Cage Aux Folles is currently at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury and will travel across the UK until late August, with more dates set to be announced.

   Ben adds: “This is a thrilling, extremely flamboyant touring show and I’ve had a brilliant team behind me who have helped make it happen. I’m also very grateful to WL for supplying the equipment and being so helpful”.

   Photos courtesy of Pamela Raith.