The improvements mean that an extra 27,000 people each year can gain access to what are often sold-out performances in the Dorfman, formerly the Cottesloe. In total, up to 130 more seats are available for each performance of The Hard Problem thanks to innovative seat designs and layout changes developed by Charcoalblue.
"By placing each row of the pit seating on an individual elevator, we have reinstated the original shallow rake format and made it possible to change from this to steep rake or flat floor quickly", says Alex Wardle from Charcoalblue. "We have also improved seat comfort, capacity and sightlines. To achieve this, we had to tweak the internal layout of the theatre, moving the control room up one level and moving the staircases out, to create space for a second row of seating."
Paddy Dillon, from Howarth Tompkins, continues, "Charcoalblue came up with this brilliant concept that we could go from raked seating to flat floor, and instead of retracting them in a bleacher at the back of the room, we could fold them into the floor itself. Charcoalblue took technologies that existed before - stage elevators, seating that folds back into boxes - and put them together. That was a brilliant move because the theatre can quickly be configured into three different formats."
The redeveloped theatre now has added flexibility, more comfortable seating, energy-efficient displacement ventilation and a larger foyer. The renovations are part of the ongoing £80m NT Future project.
The new seating system enables the auditorium to be used for learning activities during the day when it would otherwise be empty. The elevators were built and installed by Delstar Engineering; the seating by Race Furniture. Although folding seats already existed on the market, the Dorfman seats had to fold into a tight space and allow airflow through the pedestal. This involved careful engineering and extensive prototyping.
Charcoalblue also worked with electrical engineers Atelier Ten to specify new houselighting, choosing GDS and RVA LED fixtures which were installed by Northern Light. The technical walkways were extended to include storage space, which has speeded up rigging operations.
NT technical manager Chris McDougall comments, "With Howarth Tompkins and Charcoalblue you felt like you had the best theatrical knowledge base - they've worked on some of the best theatres in the country and I had utter trust in the fact they were theatre people: they understand theatre. This made the whole process a lot easier."
Tom Stoppard's The Hard Problem runs until 27 May 2015 at the Dorfman, directed by Nicholas Hytner, and will be broadcast to cinemas internationally by National Theatre Live on 16 April.
(Jim Evans)
