The show sees The Jetty, which formerly served as a coal-unloading point for Blackwall Point Power Station, transformed into a purpose built structure which allows audience members to check into what is a unique experience.
Prior to the recent popularity of immersive theatre productions, White Light had already established strong working relationships with companies such as Punchdrunk. Their most recent project, the co-production with the National Maritime Museum entitled Against Captain's Orders: A Journey into the Uncharted, allows families to jump on board the HMS Adventure and take a journey through the museum's vast collection of maritime history and artefacts.
Ben Donoghue, head of lighting on the project, comments, "We had a conventional exhibition space in which to shape and craft an exciting and engaging immersive experience for our young audience. The use of compact fixtures such as the CCT Minuette Fresnel and Altman Micro Ellipse, both supplied by White Light, helped us achieve this within the more intimate performance spaces, alongside practical and birdie lighting."
Punchdrunk's previous project, a co-production with the National Theatre called The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable, saw an old Post Office sorting facility (120,000sq.ft of show space) transformed into a 1960s Los Angeles studio lot and beyond, stretching across four floors. Ben states: "This was an immersive site-specific installation on a vast scale and, as such, required strong yet flexible relationships with our suppliers as the performance and lighting continuously evolved. White Light once again delivered a tremendously helpful and professional service, providing both infrastructure and lighting system solutions."
Similarly, this year also saw White Light work on Generation of Z: Apocalypse - a live zombie experience based in East London that places its audience directly in the centre of a post-apocalyptic world. White Light was approached by Adam Povey, the lighting designer on the project, who has a long history of working with the company.
White Light also worked on Les Enfants Terribles' latest show Alice's Adventures Underground. Set in the Waterloo Vaults, the show allowed groups to experience different interactive elements and re-create memorable scenes from Lewis Carol's novel. The multi-sensory production fused puppetry, story-telling, music and spectacle with stage technology. The design incorporated eight different rooms, all with an entirely bespoke set-up.
Fully networked via a central ETC Ion console, with a secondary unit for backup, the lighting system throughout included over 260 circuits of dimming. Paul Walmsley, chief electrician for the project, commented, "The design of all aspects of the show continued to change right up until press night, so the flexibility that we were afforded by White Light in terms of our fixture choices and control infrastructure was invaluable. The quality and speed of technical support and response to our ever changing hire list was second to none."
Craig Bennett, White Light's hire business development manager, comments, "As theatregoers continue to demand greater levels of interaction, the company is able to work on a range of projects which push the boundaries of entertainment and provide their audiences with a truly unforgettable experience."
(Jim Evans)
