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HSL on the Fringe
C Electric, the charismatic and now disused former Odeon cinema on Clerk Street, is being run for the Festival by C Venues, who are responsible for staging approximately 60 shows featuring 45 companies in 14 venues around the City, constituting a tenth of this year’s Fringe performances.
It’s the first year that HSL and C Venues have worked together after HSL came highly recommended to them. It has been a highly positive experience for all concerned says HSL’s project manager Mike Oates.
“This was my first involvement with the Fringe and it has been a pleasure to work with all concerned,” he confirms. “HSL has always supported both established and up and coming LD’s to bring their ideas and concepts to fruition. It’s excellent working with all the dedicated individuals from the Fringe. By the time equipment was shipped, I was equally as enthusiastic and passionate about the project as they were.”
C Venues is headed by West End lighting designer Hartley Kemp, who has massive enthusiasm for the Edinburgh Festival. He’s now been involved with Europe’s premier Arts Festival for new talent for 14 years.
The C Electric’s programme of events for 2005 is a super eclectic mix of drama, comedy, satire, musicals, dance and movement, physical theatre, monologues and anything else imaginable!
Lighting design for the various spaces was a collaborative effort by Hartley Kemp, production manager Richard Williamson and technical facilities manager Phil Bentley. In each case they needed to ensure they had all bases covered in terms of lighting.
For Screen 2 at the C Electric (all the spaces are called by the last used Screen name when the cinema closed in 2003) HSL has supplied Steeldeck staging and trussing plus a four-legged ground supported trussing system. There are 48 ways of Avolites ART2000 dimming and a Strand 520i desk. The fixtures are a mix of Source Four PARs and profiles and Selecon Acclaim Fresnels. Most of these were specially purchased by HSL for this gig. “I was most impressed with the new gear,” states Williamson.
There are also four Robe 1200ATE Wash moving heads, which have proved extremely useful, says Williamson. “They are great, they have a nice colour mix, and an extremely handy zoom lens and they are highly reliable.” With many venues operating from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m. – in true Fringe spirit – the robustness and reliability of the kit is crucial.
The lighting rigs were also all designed to shrink smaller or grow bigger as required by the production, and all lighting had to be practical to opposition and focus in the changeovers, which averaged 10 minutes.
C Electric’s Screen 4’s lighting and staging set up is almost identical to Screen 2’s.
For Screen 3 HSL supplied a ground supported box truss, accompanied by 36 ways of Avolite ART2000 dimming and an assortment of PARs profiles and Acclaims. The ETC Xpress desk was supplied by ETC.
Screen 5 was a challenging installation. Lighting here is rigged onto a flown box trussing grid utilising the venue’s original fly tower and points. The lamp count here is virtually the same as in Screen 2. (Gaumont Theatres initially built the Electric - now a listed building - in 1930. It opened as the New Victoria, complete with facilities for either theatre or cinema functionality and seating for 2,058 people).
HSL also supplied an extra meat rack of assorted fixtures, so any companies with specific or special lighting requirements could be dealt with quickly and efficiently.
Kemp says: “All round, the service from HSL has been brilliant. They actually listened to what we said we needed, and supplied all that and a bit extra.”
For the get in, HSL supplied four of their own crew to help rig, which went extremely smoothly, even finishing ahead of schedule in some cases, reports Bentley. “HSL were also keen to share their working knowledge with our crews who are operating the rigs for the three-week duration of the Festival,” he adds.
The feedback from the various theatre groups about the lighting and staging facilities has been excellent, and everyone has enjoyed working at the Electric, which has been one of the most popular venues this year.
In picture: “Yeehad! The Musical” performed by The Greater Los Angeles Performance Arts Project in Screen 2 at C-Electric, and The Alma Flamenco Dance Company onstage in Screen 4 at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
1st September 2005
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