National Theatre invests in Robert Juliat
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The NT technical department have the responsibility to provide the best quality equipment in order to maintain the highest standards for all productions.
The lighting department has invested in yet more Robert Juliat lighting equipment over the last 12 months to add to its already large inventory of RJ fixtures.
“We have over 300 Robert Juliat 600 Series 1kW and 700 Series 2.5kW profile fixtures, mostly used as generic lighting in the Olivier and Lyttelton theatres where they are rigged on the front of house bridges,” says lighting resources manager, Paul Hornsby. “The latter are especially suitable for the long throws in the Olivier and Lyttelton where they give that punchy 2.5k look that everyone wants and which has yet to be achieved by any LED equivalent.”
2018 saw Hornsby’s department make a sizeable investment in 54 Dalis 860 300W LED cyclorama battens. “Our aim was to be able to light a full wrap-around cyclorama in the Olivier, which we are able to do using 48 Dalis units (24 each on top and bottom). The cyclorama for Common, for example, measures 8m high by 21.5m wide - so you can see the size of the space they have to cover.
“We chose Dalis because we were looking for an LED solution to replace our old tungsten cyclorama lights. We compared various products and felt that in terms of size, coverage and output, Dalis was the best on the market.”
The Dalis fixtures are currently in use on productions in both the Lyttelton and the Olivier theatres. The Lyttelton sees lighting designer Jon Clark employing 20 units, in two rows of 10, for David Hare’s production, I’m Not Running, not as cyclorama lighting but for flood coverage on the 10m back wall of the set.
Prior to its Broadway run, Anaïs Mitchell’s musical Hadestown, is now playing in repertoire at the Olivier where LD Bradley King is using 12 Dalis 860 fixtures in an architectural fashion to uplight the back wall of the set in different colours. “
The National Theatre also purchased 16 new RJ Cin’k 350LF 5kW tungsten Fresnels for the Lyttelton Theatre’s basic rig where they will operate in overhead positions.
(Jim Evans)
