Royal Exchange upgrades with High End
- Details
The glass-walled space, seats up to 750 people on three levels and is a seven-sided theatre suspended from four large columns. Although most of the theatre’s work is self-produced and bespoke for the space, its current programme requires a luminaire that can meet very different challenges; from straight plays, to musicals and even live music events.
“We were looking to replace our existing moving lights with a high-quality LED unit and had waited a number of years for the right fixture to become available,” says Mark Distin Webster, head of lighting. “Following much consideration, we felt the SolaFrame 1000 was the moving light that gave us the best spectrum of choice whilst still maintaining a high-quality core.”
The theatre’s design means all seats are less than 30ft from the circular stage. To give lighting designers immediate access to useful angles and looks, seven SolaFrame 1000 fixtures are interspersed with pre-existing wash units.
“Additionally, we put a SolaFrame 3000 high-CRI unit on centre as it’s always a popular lighting position and the 3000 has plenty of punch and huge amount of options,” explains Distin Webster. “Crucially, its 55° beam angle means it can fill a revolving stage in a single shot. Also, using the same product range allows for easy and precise colour matching to the other units around it.”
A recent production of Gypsy at the Royal Exchange saw lighting designer Colin Grenfell at the helm. “The SolaFrame units have an unexpectedly bright output with the advantage of very low fan noise,” he remarks. “They have an open-white feeling just like a discharge lamp, great colour mixing with lovely pastel shades, and a good CTO wheel - I wouldn’t hesitate to spec them again.”
“No moving light is ever going to be the perfect tool for every situation,” concludes Distin Webster. “But the SolaFrame is a really talented backbone for a moving light rig which gives the quality and versatility that a demanding producing theatre requires. It is a welcome addition to the Royal Exchange’s rig.”
(Jim Evans)
