A visit to the Brit School in Croydon quickly annihilates those dated eighties images and replaces them with a slick, contemporary vision where leg-warmers (if they’re worn) are disguised beneath cool student attitudes and dedication to the various artistic and technical vocations on offer. With the recording industry backing the Brit School, it’s no surprise to discover that the music courses are well developed and until recently the school emphasis fell in that direction.
The school’s production manager, Caroline Heale, was brought in with a brief that included updating the school’s main performance venue and raising the profile of the technical courses. The school has two other spaces that are used for minor performances, workshops and as teaching spaces. The ‘Tent’ is a large, open space with an ingenious coupling of a truss system and copious quantities of black tabs and the third space, the Garrett Studio, is a 50-seat space, mainly used by the Theatre Department.
The school takes students through GCSE courses with a wide array of subjects available. The MPA (Main Performance Area) is well-equipped for a high school, much to the credit of the technical department. There are 36 100kg point hoists arranged on tracks and controlled electronically. These are usually linked to six flying bars over the main stage and auditorium areas, but the system is flexible. There are also three Hemp bars that are primarily used for teaching purposes and two 250kg winch bars. The space has a low grid height with only 8m from the stage floor to the roof, but this doesn’t seem to hamper the creativity of the student set designers! The sound system consists of a Soundcraft Venue II, 36-channel mixer with 8-way matrix. The PA comprises Tannoy T300 and B400 cabinets, eight T12 monitors with QSC PL2 and PL4 amplifiers FOH. The school has also recently purchased a four-channel Sony UHF radio mic system that is their pride and joy; and there are Shure, AKG and Sennheiser mics in the kit-list.
On the lighting front, the MPA boasts an impressive system controlled by an ADB Phoenix 5, 350-channel DMX desk, powered by 96 channels of ADB’s EuroPack, 48 channels of EuroRack and two12-way Zero 88 ID racks. An XTBA DMX network is also part of the system. For other control issues, the school also has a Strand 430 control desk and an ADB Cantor 48-channel desk. The luminaire stock includes ADB equipment, ETC Source Fours, Starlette fresnels, Sil 30s and Thomas Par cans.
Judging by the high technical and design standards the school advocates, the reputation of The Brit School will ascend of its own accord and no doubt we will be hearing of its graduates in due course.
Jacqueline Molloy
