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White Light Gets Its Kit on The Full Monty UK Tour

UK – Based on the 1997 smash-hit film, The Full Monty has been adapted into a stage play and is currently touring the UK. Written by Oscar-winner Simon Beaufoy, the play tells the story of six out-of-work Sheffield steelworkers who resort to the world of male-stripping to make ends meet. The show is currently playing in Liverpool and will continue to visit cities and towns across the UK well into 2017. As one of the leading lighting suppliers to UK touring theatre, White Light was approached to provide the lighting equipment.

The lighting designer for the show is Olivier Award-winning Tim Lutkin, whose credits include Chimerica, Elf the Musical, Les Blancs and The Girls. He was also the lighting designer for the original West End run of The Full Monty. He comments: “My brief on the show was to make the lighting as realistic and industrial as possible; reflecting the mood and environment which surrounds the play. Practically speaking, the set design itself relies on both set practicals and lighting states to create the various locations within the play.” 

It wasn’t just an industrial feel that Tim had to create. He adds: “Similar to the film, the play culminates in a huge Vegas-style strip show so we had to create a rig that would be able to deliver this.”

Tim drew on a range of equipment including Martin Mac 700 Profiles and Washes, Varti*Lite VL500DBs, Philips SL PAR155 Zooms, ETC Source Four Profiles and an ETC Ion 4k console. There were also Unique 2.1 Haze machines and Viper 2.6 Smoke machines. 

Tim adds: “With this rig, it was all about the versatility and being able to capture the exact mood we wanted throughout the different scenes. We swapped all of the scrollers on the show for the Phillips fixtures which were a great addition to the rig.”

Tim and his team spent a week on-site at WL’s Wimbledon base pre-rigging to ensure that they achieved their perfect rig.

Tim states: “One of the biggest obstacles with any touring production is the fact that you’re creating a rig that has to essentially fit within different sized venues. To combat this, we ensured that the front of house lighting rig was as simple as possible.”

The Full Monty UK tour stars television favourites such as Gary Lucy, Louis Emerick, Anthony Lewis and Andrew Dunn. The show has already received the UK Theatre Award for Best Touring Production (2013) along with rave reviews as it’s travelled up and down the UK. Before Christmas, it visits Liverpool, Birmingham, Cardiff and Leeds and in 2017 will continue touring until April.

Tim adds: “The Full Monty really is a great show with an inspiring story. It’s been great to work on it again and also with White Light who have been incredibly supportive throughout.”

The Full Monty UK tour marks one of many that WL is currently supplying, including The Commitments, The Woman in Black, Billy Elliot and Ghost. 

7th November 2016

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