Tag Archive: Vari*Lite VL1000

1. 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.

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.