The production brings together a creative team from across all areas of theatre, including director Ben Harrison, a leading exponent of site-specific theatre and artistic director of the Grid Iron Theatre company, and choreographer Fleur Darkin, plus set designer William Dudley and lighting designer Mark Henderson, familiar names from the National Theatre, large scale musicals and more.
Peter Pan gives Dudley the opportunity to expand on the dramatic computer-generated virtual environments for which he has become well known since The Coast of Utopia in 2002; that production used a screen wrapping 180 degrees, and The Woman In White later extended the screen to 220 degrees around the cast. With the Peter Pan audience wrapped around the stage, it now expands to a full 360 degrees, projecting onto screens above the audience and wrapping around the tent.
To then bring life to the cast and scenery on stage from a limited range of lighting positions, lighting designer Mark Henderson turned to lighting supplier White Light to supply a diverse and comprehensive range of lighting equipment, including a core moving light rig of Clay Paky Alpha Wash 1200 washlights, Vari-Lite VL1000TS and VL3500Q framing spotlights, Martin Mac700 Wash and Spots, and Mac TW1 tungsten washlights.
Complementing these are a conventional rig of over 100 ETC Source Four profiles and Source Four Pars, Rainbow colour scrollers, CCT Minuette Fresnels, Birdies plus four High End Dataflash strobes and two Unique haze machines. Control for the entire rig is from an ETC Eos console driving ETC dimmers, the console programmed by Nick Simmons.
Working with Mark Henderson on the show are a team led by production electrician Fraser Hall, with Richard Bullimore serving as the show's production manager.
(Claire Beeson)
