Lighting has always been an essential element of the show and part of the original concept since its inception at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2004. The latest tour's design is again created by Ben M Rogers - who has been involved with Noise Ensemble since Edinburgh - and is based on bringing edgy, moody multilayered drama to the performance.
For this tour however, Rogers wanted to up the production values and create a new setting and ambiance via the meticulous and well thought-out lighting. The intention with the new moving lights - a substantial rig for a theatre tour of this scale - was also to bring the aura of an arena show to a theatre space, with all the necessary movement and fluidity to compliment and contrast the dynamics of percussive performance. The result is witty, highly entertaining and intense.
The onstage touring rig, which includes a small selection of conventional and LED fixtures in addition to the SGMs is combined with front of house lighting at each venue, with the re-lights overseen by Snap To Black's James Henshaw.
The show is heavily backlit. All the fixtures are on or over the stage, with four Idea 250 Washes and two Spots upstage on the deck and another four Washes in the boom positions, leaving the remaining 18, six of which are Washes, rigged overhead.
Both the position and fixtures themselves bring huge flexibility to the show, allowing the creation of a plethora of atmospheric, provocative looks which defy repetition throughout its two hour duration.
"On previous tours, Noise Ensemble had featured a mixture of different moving head sizes and types, but Ben really wanted continuity on this one, so it was definitely the right decision to go with using an entire rig of one brand and size," affirms Henshaw.
(Jim Evans)
