Company returns to West End with White Light
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Company tells the story of Bobbie whose friends and family can’t understand why she isn’t married. At her 35th birthday party, she questions the pressure to find the right person and finally settle down. The show is lit by Olivier and Tony Award-winning Neil Austin, who comments: “This is actually the second time I’ve lit Company, having worked on a version in Sheffield about eight years ago with Daniel Evans. It’s a show I love and was delighted to be asked to do it again. What’s brilliant about Marianne’s version is that she’s swapped the gender of the protagonist from male to female, from Bobby to Bobbie. As a result, it completely transforms the piece, giving it extraordinary currency and clarity.”
To create his design, Neil worked closely with set designer Bunny Christie. He explains: “Bunny came up with several designs, but the one we settled on was a series of open-fronted cubes the smallest of which is around 9’ by 9'. A five-sided box is a lighting designer’s worst nightmare, and we’ve got nine of them! I added LED light boxes to the front fascia of each box to be able to blend or contrast to the interior, as well as LED tape around the inside of the box to help light the actors. We then cut small lighting slots in the front and back of each box’s ceilings and utilised small hidden units to highlight and add backlight.”
Neil then approached WL to supply him with the exact lighting fixtures he required for his intricate design. He explains: “I drew on my current favourite unit, the Martin MAC Encores, to light from outside of the boxes and lots (and lots!) of GLP X4 Bars for both the interior box slots and exterior lighting. Other units included the ETC Source 4 Series 2 Lustrs along with Viper NT Smoke Machines.
Neil adds: “The entire rig for Company was LED. This was glorious as it was extremely quiet whilst remaining very versatile. Whilst Company is a big show with loud numbers from the 15-strong band, there are lots of quiet scenes and nuanced moments and you can hear every single word said on stage in silence without interruption from fans.”
Neil concludes: “I am very grateful to my brilliant team on this production, which includes production electrician Martin Chisnall and programmer Daniel Haggerty. A big thanks also to WL for supplying me once again with the exact fixtures I required.”
(Jim Evans)
