"We looked at other desks to use on this show," explains Constable, "but the Eos is definitely the most theatre based, with the best support available. I was really impressed. Eos is establishing itself in the lighting world as the best board for the theatre."
Programmer Nick Simmons says: "Paule and I first experienced the Eos two years ago, when we worked together at the National Theatre on War Horse, and the desk has come a long way since then. We worked with the Eos product design team and provided feedback which resulted in changes to the way some features work within the desk."
While Simmons worked at the Eos, associate lighting designer Beky Stoddard used an ETC Ion to help her produce some of the paperwork and keep up to date with the cue structure of the show. Constable had an RVI (remote video interface) and XKeys keyboard so that she and Simmons could have their own custom screen set-up without affecting each other.
Constable chose some 50 ETC Source Four Revolution intelligent luminaires to go with Martin and Vari*Lite units and over 150 conventional ETC Source Fours. "I always use tungsten sources," she says. "This generation of the Revolution is excellent - it has improved a great deal since it was first released. I'm not a big gobo or effects LD, and I like the colour scroller on the front of the Revolution because it enables me to have my exact choice of colour."
This production of Oliver! is staged by Cameron Mackintosh and makes use of a cast and orchestra of over 100; the characters Nancy and Oliver were winners of last year's BBC One show I'd Do Anything. Production lighting and media servers are supplied by Stage Electrics, who also supplied a rack mounted backup processor unit.
(Jim Evans)
