The South
African State Theatre in Pretoria has added more Robe LED fixtures to its
lighting inventory … specified by Head of Lighting Simon King.
The latest
purchase includes 12 x MMX Spots, four DLX Spots and four ROBIN 300 LEDWashes
and follows quickly on the heels of 40 x Robe LEDForce 18 PARs and eight new
ColorSpot 250E ATs.
The Theatre also
now has a total of 36 x LEDWash 600s, the first batch of which were purchased
in 2011 from Robe’s SA distributor DWR, after being specified by King who was
keen to embrace the many advantages of LED stage lighting.
The State
Theatre – housed in its distinctive and imposing building in the heart of the
city – has five main performance spaces, the largest two being the 1300
capacity Opera Stage and the 650 capacity Drama Stage – and a fantastic
reputation for excellence in multiple genres. It also likes to keep moving with
the times.
Dr. Quinton W
Simpson was appointed as the organisation’s new CEO in 2012 and was very
conducive to Simon King’s proposals to move more and more towards LED lighting
as the fixtures became brighter, more efficient and ever more cost effective!
The theatre is
75% a receiving house and 25% producing, staging around 30 major productions
per year, several with long runs, plus a variety of other shows and
performances ranging from Gospel Choirs, rock concerts, raves, dramas, dance
works, opera – and virtually every other type of performance including the
spoken word.
Flexibility is
therefore a key to any new lighting investments!
“LED makes sense
in terms of reducing power consumption and on-going maintenance costs,” states
King, adding that it’s a bit of a ‘no brainer’ really considering the pace and
direction of LED development.
It also helps
with the justification of future cap-ex allowances if they can demonstrate a
discernible overall cost saving – so it’s ‘win-win’ all round!
Apart from all
these positives, especially with drama shows, having low noise equipment is
essential – and once again, LEDs win out.
Another “Major
reason” they chose Robe states King … is the superlative service from DWR, “Any
product is worthless without good service and support,” he says with
conviction. Not that they have needed much to be fixed with the Robes of course
… as the fixtures have proven very reliable.
The new Robes
are distributed around the Theatre’s different spaces – the majority on the two
main stages.The four DLXs
and two of the ROBIN 300 LEDWashes are in the Arena Theatre together with six
LEDForce 18s, while the eight ColorSpot 250E ATs are in the Rendezvous Theatre,
and two more LEDWash 300s are in the Cabaret venue.
The MMX Spot is
currently King’s favourite moving light. “The punch and the zoom are lovely,”
he effuses, “Together with the colour mixing, the gobos and of course the dual
graphics wheel”, concluding that it’s an ‘Ultimately flexible” unit ideally
suited to their needs.
The State
Theatre’s LX crew love all of the new Robes because they are light in weight
and easy to handle.
King lights
around 50% of the shows staged in the State Theatre’s venues as well as having
his own international lighting design clients.
Recently he lit a production
of ‘The Merry Widow’ in Montevideo,
Uruguay, at the
Archivo Nacional De La Imagen-Sodre and was delighted
to be using Robe LEDWash 600s in his rig, which were specially hired in for the
occasion.
Photo caption :
Left
to Right : Lighting Technicians Jacob Langa and Michael Behrens, Senior Lighting
Technician Simon King, Stage Services Manager Leon Barnard.
