A different solution was required because this production of Mozart's opera La Finta Giardiniera, by director Karl-Ernst Hermann, was originally designed for the larger Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels.
There, the opera was performed on a raked stage. To make this design work in the Estates Theatre, the 'downhill' portion of the stage was extended to the orchestra pit, itself surrounded by a narrow footbridge.
This move, however, created problems, as the central front of house lighting position in the Estates, Prague's oldest theatre, is limited to just a few lights. Ivo Dankovi? explained: "The central lighting position is too remote from the stage to focus on the narrow footbridge around the orchestra pit. You can't achieve the same lighting quality there as on the main stage without creating distracting lighting effects in the orchestra."
He added, "The solution was to use ADB's WARP Zoom Profiles, placing them close to the orchestra pit on the second balcony left and right. Thanks to ADB's four integrated blades with 360°rotation capability, it was simple to focus on the difficult parts of the stage, especially the narrow footbridge around the orchestra pit, from each position. From my point of view the WARP is outstanding. I feel they're superb profiles and should be available on every stage."
(Jim Evans)
