With its close proximity to Cape Town's central business district, the new International Convention Centre and the V & A Waterfront, Artscape is ideally situated to serve the Cape's performing arts, film, tourism, entertainment, conference and exhibition industries.
Covering an area of some 14,000 square meters, the Artscape complex consists of a fully equipped Opera House seating 1,487, a theatre auditorium seating 540, the smaller Arena theatre seating 140, a piazza, gardens, rehearsal rooms and ample parking.
It is a prominent feature of the Cape Town cultural scene with thousands of top acts and actors entertaining hundreds of thousands of people over four decades.
In late 2012, the complex received funding to upgrade the lighting rigs of the theatre spaces. Artscape's senior lighting technician, Nicholas Tilney, says there were two objectives with the upgrade: "Firstly, our Martin MAC 2000s, which were installed in 2000 and 2004, were getting old. Secondly, all three venues at the Centre are getting busier and we needed a system with a quicker turnaround time."
With more shows and with shorter runs it was essential that time spent setting up and focusing be kept to a minimum. Nicholas and the rest of the crew discussed this and came up with a list of equipment that would cut down the time they spent focusing lights by half. "We feel we came up with a list that matched good quality with the versatility and flexibility that is essential to our multi-discipline venue," explains Tilney.
The Artscape crew's decision was to stick with Martin Professional products because of the service the MAC 2000s had given over more than a decade. This meant they turned to Electrosonic SA's Robbi Nassi to guide them through the process. "Electrosonic SA was an automatic choice," says Tilney. "Their service - and that includes back-up, spares, and especially training - is superb, I can't fault them."
The upgrade was planned to take place in two phases. The first phase was the delivery and installation of 15 Martin MAC III's. The second phase included an additional nine MAC III's and 24 MAC 700s. This does not mean the MAC 2000s were being thrown out. "After 12 years they are still great, we've given them lots of love and attention and they have given us fantastic service, and they will for a while yet," says Tilney.
(Jim Evans)
