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Robe for Oliver!
Lighting designer Andy Webb utilised Robe moving lights at the core of his design for a recent production of ‘Oliver!', staged at the Kingshill School Sports Hall in Cirencester, Gloucestershire UK.
The end-of year show was directed by Russell Blackaller, featured a cast of 70 pupils aged 11 - 15 and ran for three nights, all completely sold out. Blackaller wanted a professional look and feel to the show, so called on the creative talents of Webb, who is also technical manager at the nearby Sundial Theatre.
Webb uses Robe on all his major shows and they are always his first choice of moving light. For this, staged in a 270 degree nearly-in-the-round format, using moving lights was the only way to maximise the space and evoke the many dynamics, locations and ambiences needed for an exciting presentation of the classic hit.
A gauze was hung three quarters of the way down the hall behind which the 30-piece band/orchestra were positioned, with the 10 x 8 metre performance space behind that, surrounded by audience on three sides.
This configuration already gave the show a unique and slightly idiosyncratic feel. Blackaller wanted the production to have a dark, somewhat edgy feel, and to contain plenty of contrasts. Webb came up with the idea of having the orchestra behind the gauze, thinking it would be ideal for him to use for gobo work and other projected effects.
The Robes were supplied by Bath-based Enlightened. He chose a moving light rig for two reasons - one was to give him the imaginative scope and depth he needed, and secondly, the Sports Hall power supply was limited to four single phase 63A supplies for all the production kit. So, moving lights offered the maximum options within these restrictions.
The lights were rigged off a 12 x 12 metre box truss flown 6 metres above stage and consisted of eight Robe ColorWash 575 ATs, four ColorSpot 575 ATs and four ColorSpot 700E ATs, with four ColorWash 250 ATs positioned on the floor and used as kickers to highlight faces and profiles from a low level. The only other units on the rig were eight Source Four profiles!
Webb used his own Roadhog Full Boar console for control and worked with his team of console programmer Jim Hobbs and LX crew Adam Tye.
Each of the four corners of the stage had a followspot, used to highlight the action, while the Robes were used to create the mood and atmosphere of the scene. Careful positioning of the moving lights also allowed him to cheat some of the more acute angles without blinding the audience.
Effects included using lots of saturated UV colouration for the dark scenes, along with pinks, purples and blues, which worked very well, and avoided having to dim lights to produce "darkness". "The ColorWash 575s were well pokey enough to do this," says Webb.
The ColorSpot 575 ATs were used for gobo projection onto the gauze, sometimes with the prism effect. For parts of the show when live camera feeds were rear projected onto the gauze behind the orchestra, the gobos were dropped out, and the actors' faces highlighted directly with these same fixtures.
The four ColorSpot 700E ATs easily covered the entire floor of the space because of the width of the zoom, which was extremely useful. They allowed him to produce some stunning overall colour and movement effects or to pull back to a narrow head shot when needed. "Very versatile," he comments. The ColorWash 250s were used for up-lighting from their low level positions and as fillers in areas where the overheads were on the shallow side.
The end section of the performance was lit entirely using shadows and silhouettes, which really cranked up the atmosphere and anticipation, helping to leave a visually memorable impression on everyone. The whole hall was engulfed in smoke and haze, the rig was in UV and the follow spots on low, with no close-up facial features seen at all for the last 15 minutes. The final dénouement on the bridge was played out behind the UV-bathed gauze. "The lights all had to work really hard to capture and create the emotions and drama of the moment," explains Webb, "but the results really made an impact on everyone."
8th August 2008
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