The theatre was badly damaged during the civil unrest which flared throughout France in the autumn of 2005. As a 'public' building it became a target for the rioters and was rammed by a car which was then set on fire, causing extensive damage.
The theatre closed immediately and had to be given a comprehensive refurbishment before it could be used for public performances again.
Overseeing the installation was Regis Lambin of Paris-based audio visual project management company IEC, working with sound design by French specialists Cinograph. They specified a Yamaha DME24N to manage the Amadeus Audio bi-amped line array system in the 500-seat auditorium, driven by four Yamaha TN4n amplifiers.
The stage monitoring system is powered by another three TN4ns, with the audio mixed on a Yamaha 02R digital console.
The new audio system is entirely digital, exclusively using Ethersound for all signal routing, with the DME controlled via PC software. This was designed by Amadeus and makes for an extremely flexible system, suitable for a theatre which stages a wide variety of productions.
(Jim Evans)
