White Light shines on The Philanthropist
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Directed by Simon Callow, this latest version stars some of television’s brightest stars, including Matt Berry, Simon Bird, Lily Cole and Tom Rosenthal. Having already supplied shows at the Trafalgar Studios this year, White Light was called upon once again to provide the lights for The Philanthropist.
The lighting designer is Olivier Award-winner Mike Robertson. He comments: “I remember seeing The Philanthropist many moons ago and being struck by the extraordinary coup de théâtre at the beginning of the play. For this version, Simon has approached it with a really fresh vibrancy; whether it’s the younger cast or the set. It feels like a very modern take on what is now a classic piece.”
This reinvention had an impact on Mike’s design and he worked closely with set designer Libby Watson. He states: “What’s brilliant about this set is that there is not a bad seat in the house and each one sees it from a different perspective. There is also a lot of clever trickery that occurs throughout. Therefore, my approach was to create a style of heightened naturalism. Whereas everything appears to represent reality in the theatrical sense, there is a slight change in the colour and quality of the source which hopefully makes the audience question what is the truth.”
Mike drew on a mixture of ETC Revolutions, Martin MAC TW1s, ETC Source Fours and Philips Vari*Lite VL3500Q Spots for his rig. He also added additional house lighting within the Trafalgar in order to further the fresh feeling of the performance.
Mike adds: “I’ve had a great time working on this revival alongside the warm staff at Trafalgar, particularly Michael Corcoran who is the venue’s head of lighting. I am also grateful, as ever, to WL for providing top quality service once again and supplying brilliant equipment in record time.”
(Jim Evans)
