Sixty82 is right fit for Tower Theatre Company
- Details
A major presence in the Capital’s non-professional theatre scene for 87 years, with acting alumni including Tom Courtenay and Michael Gambon among others, through 2019 the Tower Theatre will present up to 20 full-scale productions to a broad public audience at its permanent new home in Stoke Newington.
Featuring a domed roof and interesting hexagonal shape, the theatre company’s new building offers it a level of flexibility that previous performance spaces have lacked. As part of ongoing renovations to make the former leisure centre suitable for the performers, staff and audiences’ requirements, a new studio space has been created in addition to the main auditorium to be used for rehearsals, readings & smaller performances.
Having provided support with various elements of the main theatre fit-out, the Theatre team approached production specialists, Light Fantastic Production Services to provide a flexible rigging solution for the studio space. Limited ceiling height, unusual angles and a lack of any rigging capacity in the ceiling meant that a custom-designed truss structure was needed to meet the only available anchor points on structural piers around the perimeter of the space.
Light Fantastic contacted Matthew Millward, sales manager for AC-ET’s rigging sales division, to supply a solution to meet the brief. AC-ET then worked closely with Sixty82 to create custom truss lengths and wall adaptors specifically designed to fit the challenging space. The design also utilised Sixty82’s innovative Hang-On82 accessory, a flexible alternative to the standard T-shaped corner which enables common truss types to be suspended at any point on the grid.
Rob Myer, managing director of Light Fantastic comments: “AC-ET and Sixty82 have been fantastic and were really helpful throughout the project. They did a lot of research and produced incredibly precise drawings to ensure the truss would fit into the space and meet the anchor points, which made installing it really easy for us. The custom elements were turned around very quickly to meet the tight deadline for an upcoming performance that the studio had been booked for.”
He continues: “The Sixty82 truss solution is great. The Hang-On82 accessory is really neat and tidy and saved the need for bulky corner blocks, which would have been really tricky in the available space. The client is delighted with it.”
In addition to the truss, Light Fantastic also supplied Sixty82 Livedeck stage decking, which will be primarily used within the main theatre.
The technical design and logistics was handled on the AC-ET side by Oliver Sharpe who has been working with the Sixty82 brand since its inception.
(Jim Evans)
