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Flux Goes to The Secret Policeman’s Ball

Flux Events staged and production managed the renowned Secret Policeman’s Ball at the Royal Albert Hall for Amnesty International, working in close collaboration with TV producers, Tiger Aspect.

Some of the best comedy talent pitched up for the show – including Eddie Izzard, Russell Brand, Chevy Chase, Seth Green, Dylan Moran, The Mighty Boosh, Graham Norton, John Culshaw, Al Murray, Andrew Maxwell, The Cast of Green Wing, Omid Djalili, Sarah Silvermann and many more. Music including live appearances by Natalie Imbruglia, The Magic Numbers and The Zutons.

Marking the 30th anniversary of the first Amnesty Comedy show in 1976, the 2006 event highlighted Amnesty’s campaigns to control the arms trade, to stop violence against women, to end the use of torture and to protect any human whose rights are abused.

To aid communications and the seamless production of a simultaneous live event, TV show and DVD shoot, the Flux team led by event producer John Farquhar-Smith and including production manager Debbie Bray, moved into Tiger Aspect’s offices in Soho Square for two weeks prior to the show. Here they worked alongside Amnesty’s producer Lisle Turner and TV producer Mike Agnew to ensure that any operational and practical production issues could be thoroughly ironed out ahead of the exceptionally tight get in, rehearsal and show schedule.

“Co-ordinating the event this closely ensured that everyone’s faces and roles were familiar and clearly defined before we all arrived on site. It was a key to smoothing the scheduling and rehearsals, and for the creation of a unique show with over 60-plus performers,” explains Farquhar-Smith. “The three major objectives for us were and producing a design that met the client’s requirements, liaising closely with Tiger Aspect and delivering a flawless live event.

Flux Events has previously worked with Amnesty International on a number of previous live events and tours. For this event, they designed and built the set, co-ordinated all event technical production, liaised with the TV production and artist liaison.

“The design brief was to produce a simple and memorable set that effectively communicated the Amnesty message” says Farquhar-Smith. Two large LED screens flanked the organ; a satellite stage in the shape of amnesty’s logo and large projection screen was added at gallery level for those sitting behind the satellite stage to see the faces of those performing on it. The screens were also vital to convey Amnesty’s provocative, hard hitting and often humorous messaging. The satellite stage was essential to ensure quick turn-arounds between acts.

Lisle Turner says: “Our design brief to John was that the show had to be dynamic, contemporary and fast-paced, and that all aspects of the production should reflect this.”

Farquhar-Smith and his team also had to work to a strict budget. “Our objective for the project was to raise money and awareness for Amnesty, so obviously this was fundamental,” he says. However, there were two additional purely practical reasons for keeping it straightforward - the intense timescale saw a 5 pm Friday evening get-in for full rehearsals and a Saturday night show - and also to allow the sheer talent of those performing to shine through onstage uncluttered by production gadgetry, gimmicks or expensive special effects – none of which were needed!

The show comprised of specially commissioned animations, stand-up comedy, music and a series of comedy sketches written by a host of writers, polished and directed by creative producers Geoff Posner and David Taylor

The satellite stage at the centre of the auditorium was constructed from steel wood by the Flux team and outlined with LiteTape. This is a revolutionary new electroluminescent tape product from the Electro-LuminX Lighting Corporation that Farquhar-Smith had seen in the US – claimed to be the longest and brightest electroluminescent lamp technology in the world. This was the first time it has been used for an entertainment application in the UK, and it was also the largest LiteTape sculpture to date here. It provided a beautifully shimmering centrepiece to the hall, clearly visible to everyone sitting in the packed auditorium.

For stage lighting, Flux asked Peter Barnes onboard as designer. “We wanted someone experienced in both TV and live environments who would create a show that worked in both contexts,” says Farquhar-Smith. It was very important for Amnesty the feel of the live show was reminiscent of the Original Secret Policeman’s Ball.

Barnes came up with a semi-circle of 80 PixelLine LED battens at the back of the stage that worked well as background eye-candy on-camera and live. He used Martin MAC moving lights overhead and programmed and ran the show on a WholeHog II console and wing, with all lighting equipment supplied by PRG. The team decided to keep the organ visible and up-lit because of its iconic status and the fact it located the venue for the DVD and TV footage.

For sound, Flux asked Sound By Design (also the RAH’s house suppliers) to design and operate a versatile system that would cater for everything from rock music to the spoken word. Various elements of the house’s Meyer M1D and M2D line array system were utilised for this, along with assorted extras brought in to augment, all co-ordinated by Phil Wright.

The 12 camera broadcast system was supplied by 021 Carlton, and the screen IMAG feeds were taken from these. The two side-stage 7.8 x 4.5 metre Barco OD10 LED screens were supplied by CT, and the front of house projection screen of the same dimensions was supplied by XL video and fed by two Barco R18 projectors.

In addition to the broadcast set up (the show will be aired on Channel Four on 31st October), there was also a behind-the-scenes documentary crew doing backstage footage and interviews – for use in both the DVD and the live transmission.

Summit Steel undertook all production rigging. They flew the two LED screens, each weighing 3 tonnes, a 7.5 metre circular truss over the satellite stage and the rear of auditorium projection screen. The remainder of the lighting and audio rigging was done using the house bars and trusses.

Flux also brought in Eat To The Beat to provide artist and crew catering.

Production manager was Debbie Bray, Stage management was co-ordinated by Martin Jadey and artist liaison was co-ordinated by Kahren Williams. Mo Crowe and Adrian Bray were the Royal Albert Hall Show Management team who were key in the smooth running of the event.

The show itself was a resounding success, producing some incisive wit, huge laughs, political juxtapositions and plenty of serious references to human rights abuse issues happening around the globe. Chevy Chase’s Guantanamo Bay sketch was one of a myriad of memorable moments enjoyed by the capacity audience in an extraordinary evening of world-class entertainment.

John Farquhar-Smith sums up: “It was a real honour to be involved in an event as ground-breaking and significant as this. We had to produce a functional and effective show that conveyed a series of powerful messages in an incredibly tight timescale. This was achieved through excellent co-ordination, liaison and teamwork.”

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Flux Goes to The Secret Policeman’s Ball

19th October 2006

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