Tag Archive: Stu Meech

1. White Light Spends A Day in the Death of Joe Egg

   23 October 2019 10:22 Leave a Comment

   

   White Light has supplied the lighting for A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, which has recently opened at Trafalgar Studios in London’s West End.

   First performed in 1967, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg tells the moving and heart-warming story of a couple trying to keep their family together whilst raising their only daughter who has cerebral palsy. Directed by Simon Evans, this latest revival stars Toby Stephens and Claire Skinner and features a lighting design by Prema Mehta. Prema comments: “Having discussed the script with Simon, it became clear that my brief was to ensure the lighting design supported the naturalistic setting of the family home, with juxtaposed moments of characters directly addressing the audience. We knew these two visuals of naturalism verses direct address had to have a completely different feeling to help the characters tell their story and form a relationship with the audience, as well as show their relationship with each other”.

   

   Prema worked closely with the show’s designer Peter McKintosh who created a naturalistic set of a small Victorian room which required naturalistic interior lighting along with the outside winter light which developed throughout the piece. With the show being set at Christmas, this also had an influence on Prema’s design. She explains: “As the LED rimmed set revolved to reveal the home, the very notion of the movement made me want to capture the feeling of a child shaking a glitter snow dome and looking into someone else’s world. I was inspired by the shards of light and reflections from tinsel to Christmas baubles and wanted to achieve an abstract wallpaper-like stained glass effect to show light shards which supported the revolving moment of the set”.

   Once she’d decided on the look of her design, Prema approached WL to supply her with the equipment she needed. Prema explains: “Supporting the interior with practicals, naturalistic kitchen and hallway lights bleeding down the staircase all felt key to the set. Working a general cover to support the practicals was important, but I’ve really enjoyed using the GLP X4 Bars to offer flexibility in terms of colour and zoom which enabled me to utilise the rig to its full capacity. I opted for Martin MAC Viper Performances as our moving lights and ETC Source 4 LED Lustr+ which I found to have great intensity and colour mixing to provide both saturated and pastel tones”.

   

   A Day in the Death of Joe Egg marks Prema’s West End lighting debut along with the first time she’s worked at Trafalgar Studios. She explains: “The in-house crew at Trafalgar were brilliant throughout the process, taking a real interest and open to exploring new ideas during previews as we saw how audiences were responding. I’m also really proud that we utilised the limited wing space to ensure the production values remained high with a set that rotated 360° with trucks, lighting ladders, exits and entrances. We also worked through the logistics to enable full access to Storme Toolis who played Joe, showing how accessibility is something that can and should be implemented for those working in theatre”.

   The show has now opened and will run until 30^th November 2019.

   Prema concludes: “I’m really proud of this poignant and moving show and for being able to play a part in it. I had a brilliant team with me, including Stu Meech, Adam Killey, Will Burgher and Charlotte McAdam, as well as great support once again from WL”.

   Photos courtesy of Marc Brenner.

2. White Light Gets the Gaslight for New Theatre Tour

   19 January 2017 10:08 Comments Off on White Light Gets the Gaslight for New Theatre Tour

   Now considered to be a theatrical classic, Patrick Hamilton’s Gaslight is currently being revived for a UK tour. The Victorian thriller opened last week at Birmingham’s New Alexandra Theatre and is now visiting venues across the UK. As one of the leading lighting suppliers to UK touring theatre, White Light was called upon to provide the lighting equipment for this production.

   This latest revival of Gaslight stars Kara Tointon (Pygmalion, Mr Selfridge, Eastenders) and the lighting designer is the award-winning Howard Hudson. Howard comments: “Somewhat fittingly for this particular show, the actual gaslight used throughout plays an important role in the overall narrative; largely as it signals the movements of the main character as he journeys to the various spaces throughout the play. The conceit is that, as he turns up the gaslight to move around, the other lighting within the space dims. Therefore, achieving that genuine feel of gaslighting was vital for the piece”.

   Howard experimented with various palettes to ensure that what he picked perfectly captured this feel. He comments: “When you actually see a gas lamp in operation, you’ll notice they emit a grey, almost dullish green glow. Therefore, we decided to use a colour palette with a slightly green tint”.

   Alongside creating this gaslighting effect, Howard had to create a rig that was suitable for touring. To do this, he drew on a range of predominantly LED equipment taken from WL’s extensive inventory. This included ETC Source 4 Series 2 Lustrs, ETC Revolutions, a host of ETC Source Fours and an ETC Ion 1K Console.

   Howard states: “The rig mostly consists of the Series 2 Lustrs, supplemented by Revolutions which allow a steeper overhead shot in restricted positions; offering vital flexibility in what can often be extremely tight spaces. The Lustrs were also able to do very subtle colour shifts throughout the play which you just wouldn’t be able to achieve with any other conventional unit. There are some strobed moments in the production which these were also hugely helpful with, being able to focus and colour the look of certain sections”.

   As with any touring production, Howard not only had to create a tourable rig but also ensure that this worked alongside a tourable set. He comments: “The set designer David Woodhead designed a space with a flown ceiling piece so one of the biggest challenges was having to cross light the space in order to sculpt the company, but also contain the light to such a degree that the cast weren’t in competition with the scenery in what is a very confined space. That said, we addressed this several times in our pre-production meetings, meaning that when the set came, it was nicely broken down and suitably smoky”.

   Gaslight has now opened and already received four and five star reviews from The Telegraph, The Times and WhatsOnStage to name but a few. The play is currently playing at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre before visiting Woking’s New Victoria Theatre (23 – 28 Jan), York’s Grand Opera House (30 Jan – 4 Feb), Brighton’s Theatre Royal (6 – 11 Feb) and Richmond Theatre (6 – 11 March).

   Howard comments: “I am really pleased with what we’ve managed to achieve on this show and how we’ve used contemporary equipment to create a very Victorian feel. I was lucky enough to work with a fantastic Production Electrician in Stu Meech and an equally brilliant Programmer in Vic Brennan. I also want to thank WL for their support and providing such great equipment”.

   Photos courtesy of Manuel Harlan.