The 471 seat venue modelled on the Elizabeth Sneddon theatre in Durban hosts around four or five major productions throughout the year and is utilised by the Drama, Music and Art departments over the academic year. It is also a receiving house for outside shows including the yearly Think Theatre Shakespearian production on the KZN national curriculum, which this year is Othello.
The space is additionally used for school presentations, events and assemblies, and it's the main venue for the annual Hilton Arts Festival. Staged in and around the extensive grounds over three days in September, this showcases 60 - 70 new and innovative mixed media works encompassing drama, dance, comedy, musicals and physical theatre, creating a vibrant atmosphere attracting around 11, 000 theatre loving visitors.
The dot2 was supplied by MA's South African distributor DWR Distribution CC, and was ordered by theatre manager Sheryl Hodkin, who looks after the technical elements with her team, which includes Gary Holder, the College's IT support specialist. Hodkin first saw the dot2 in action during the 2015 Hilton Arts Festival, where DWR supplied a number of dot2 across the site - its power and small size being ideal for this type and size of application.
"I saw first-hand just how user friendly it was with the various different techs using it during the Festival", commented Hodkin, "Just plug in and go - and it worked!" She also spoke extensively to leading SA theatre lighting designer Michael Broderick, who was producing his One Man One Light show at the festival and thoroughly recommended it. Nick Barnes of DWR's Durban office also thought it was a perfect fit for the college.
(Jim Evans)
