HOME evolved from the Library Theatre Company, from which actors such as Anthony Hopkins, Patrick Stewart, Alan Rickman and Martin Jarvis have gone on to fame. When Manchester's Central Library was renovated in 2010, the company lost its intimate 312-seat basement venue of 58 years, and has since presented in a variety of unorthodox spaces, such as the productions at the Victorian baths.
Says Gregory: "For Romeo and Juliet, we were very reliant on the console operator getting feedback from the stage management team roving with the performance. Much is pre-programmed and level adjustments must get radioed to the operator. In addition to 16 channels of radio mics, there were 16 inputs from a live band plus a dozen channels of playback from Figure 53's QLab on a Mac that was triggered from the L500. It really was a one button show. The desk controlled the show and we simply had a series of cues that we sequenced through."
The Romeo and Juliet audio team distributed about 200 speakers and used individual delays to overcome the Baths' long reverb times. "The idea was to pick up actors using head mics and bring it as close to the audience as we could, which we found incredibly easy to do with the SSL desk," explains Gilbert, a veteran of mobile tours and site-specific productions. "This production is also staged in such a manner that one character never actually appears 'on stage. So, in addition to the distributed speakers, there were also traditional PA-like speakers for the actor's disembodied voice, as well as larger-scale speakers with subwoofers for the music."
HOME's ambitious new complex rejuvenates of Manchester's First Street area and will be one of the first theatre venues in the U.K. to have an L500 permanently installed. Besides its 500-seat main theatre, it also houses a 150-seat flexible studio space, digital production and broadcast facilities, a 5,300 sq.ft gallery space, five cinema screens on the third floor, as well as a café bar and restaurants.
(Jim Evans)
