London Light director David Buffham says: "We were looking for a replacement for our old desk, which was no longer supported, and took several potential replacements out for a trial. The Eos really stood out as being both quick and easy to use. When we're working on a show, we generally have very little time to plot, so aren't able to spend hours on site adjusting the lighting. We need the desk to be powerful, responsive and intuitive, and both Eos and Ion really fit that description.
"Reliability is important, and although we never had any disasters, our old desk couldn't do full tracking backup. Now, with the Remote Processor Unit (RPU) backup, we can be sure that, should the worst happen, the show can continue running perfectly."
All London Light's inventory is available either for dry hire or as a complete package including lighting design services and board operator. The Eos has already been used on several shows, including Smokey Joe's Café, Thoroughly Modern Mille and Elkie Brooks in Concert, while the Ion proved so popular with one associate designer - Stuart Pardoe - when he used it on Crazy for You, that he decided to buy his own.
"London Light provides professional, cost-effective lighting services to theatre companies, producers and event organisers," says Buffham, "offering a complete design, implementation and operation service, taking care of all lighting concerns from the initial production meeting through to the get-out. The company can also provide additional crew to work alongside existing lighting designers and technicians, as well as proficient lighting desk programmers and operators. We're currently working on a Songtime Theatre Arts touring production of Disney's High School Musical."
ETC's regional manager for UK and Ireland, Mark White, adds: "I'm delighted that London Light is making good use of the ETC desks they have for hire. As a generation of lighting control systems reaches the end of its supportable life, theatre lighting designers and programmers are looking around for replacements. Eos and Ion are perfectly positioned, as they were designed from the ground up as fully integrated systems to address the needs of modern lighting control."
(Jim Evans)
