Iceland - The Reykjavik City Theatre is one of Iceland’s most prestigious theatrical institutions. It offers a wide range of performances in a high-tech modern theatre complex.
There are three formal performance spaces in addition to less formal areas. The Main Space has a 546-seat auditorium, with revolving stage and orchestra pit. The New Stage is a smaller, black-box studio that is endlessly flexible, while the Small Stage has around 200 seats with flexible seating and balconies for a theatre-in-the-round experience.
The theatre’s educational programme is central to the ethos of opening up theatre for all, with regular visits from nursery and primary school aged children, educational programmes and regular publications of educational material for all areas of theatre available via its website.
When the tender for replacing the existing equipment was issued, Teitur Ingi Sigurdsson, audio engineer for Luxor Sales and Rental, a Reykjavik based service company with over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry, offered a DiGiCo Quantum Series console as the solution.
“The theatre needed something reliable and recognisable,” he says. “The DiGiCo Theatre software is a major selling point, and it was love at first sight for them really.”
The theatre is constantly busy with theatrical performances and musicals. The channel count is always high and having a console that can cope with the demands of theatre was key. The DiGiCo Quantum7T fitted the bill exactly, with its dual redundant engine and 256 input channels it is built to exceed expectations.
“Downtime is not an option,” Sigurdsson continues. “The Q7T was the perfect solution, ensuring reliability and continuity for all productions. Once they had started working in the DiGiCo environment, they decided to purchase additional consoles for each of the smaller spaces, so we sourced them two Quantum225s. It’s been great for the in-house staff and the visiting designers, they’re all very happy.”
Sound engineer Jón Örn Eiríksson is one of the staff members who has benefitted from the console upgrades, he explains how the reliability of the DiGiCo Quantum series has improved the experience for theatre sound engineers.
“Our experience has been highly favourable,” he says. “The user interface is exceptionally comfortable, and can be easily configured to accommodate specific job requirements. The console's platform is notably more stable than other consoles we have worked with.”
Changing to a new console can be daunting, but DiGiCo training sessions are some of the most comprehensive around, as Sigurdsson confirms.
“DiGiCo is known for its exceptional support and training services,” he notes. “In this case, Luxor went above and beyond, providing theatre-specific training to ensure that the theatre’s engineers could fully utilise all the great features of the DiGiCo Theatre software. This commitment to customer satisfaction is a hallmark of DiGiCo's service.”
It is a winning combination, as Jón Örn Eiríksson concludes: “The console offers a considerable amount of flexibility, providing a variety of options to configure and operate according to your preferred workflow. It is an outstanding choice for professionals in need of a reliable mixing solution.”
