Aaron's lighting was a crucial element in creating the emotion, raw anxiety and political and moral issues of this incisive piece of theatre by Jason Robert Brown, which dramatizes the 1913 trail of Jewish factory manager Leo Frank for the murder and rape of 13-year-old employee, Mary Phagan in Atlanta, Georgia.
HSL first met Aaron through their work at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year where he had a production of Molly by company Squint. When this production took shape, and he needed support for the show, HSL's MD Simon Stuart was delighted to get involved.
"Aaron is a highly talented LD with a real passion for his work, so we connected on that level and were very keen to support this highly emotive and brilliantly produced project as well as the fantastic new performance space at Hope Mill."
Hope Mill Theatre is a new intimate flexible - 100 to 130 capacity - performance space in a charismatic former Victorian cotton mill in the historical industrial heartlands of Ancoats in Manchester which has been developed by young actors Joseph Houston and William Whelton to extend the vibrance and energy of the thriving Manchester fringe scene.
William also choreographed Parade, which was directed by James Baker and produced by Kate Lipson.
The Parade production team started with a completely bare space in the theatre, and one of the first things HSL and Aaron discussed was optimizing the theatre's roof space, achieved with the installation of four Litec QU30 trusses spanning the structural beams and traversing the full length of the room.
The main moving lights were all from Robe's DL LED Series, which are specifically designed for theatrical and performance applications. Eight DLS Profiles, eight DLF Fresnels and two DLX Spots were selected for their small size, high output and low power consumption.
These were joined by 26 x ETC Source Four PARs and Source Four Zooms, all fitted with scrollers and 12 x Philips SL PAR 150s and nine Prolights Eclipse ellipsoidals.
A box truss was also built at the back of the stage area and partly into the bar / café next door, to create a cyc and a backdrop, adding some serious depth and enabling the creation of additional locations through the arches leading on to stage.
Lighting this cyc were six Philips SL 640 LED battens - three at the top and three along the bottom plus two eSTRIPS up-lighting the windows.
(Jim Evans)
