World premiered at The Spiegel Theatre in Zwolle, Netherlands, the action starts on 10 March 2011, the day before the earthquake off the Pacific coast of T?hoku which triggered devastating tsunami waves up to 40m high sweeping up to 10 Kilometres inland, annihilating large areas of Japan's East Coast and claiming over 15,000 lives.
Acclaimed international lighting designer Yaron Abulafia was an integral part of the talented creative team who have helped deliver the piece directed by Malcolm Rock, and he chose an all Robe lighting rig to help sculpt the drama and the intense range of emotional, atmospheric and locational scenarios.
Luminaires included DL7S Profiles, DL7F Washes, DL4S Profiles, BMFL Blades and BMFL Wash XFs, Robe Strobes and Spikies, all pushed to their limits during programming to unfold a story inspired by sensitive and difficult subject matter in an appropriate and uplifting way.
Says Yaron, "Using these luminaires really allowed me to sculpt the light (in the hazy space) exactly as I needed to achieve very complex and intricate cues, often combining six or seven different parameters to be programmed independently. It has been an incredible and interesting journey lighting this show with these amazing tools".
New music composed by Chloé Charody was played by the 40-piece Dutch Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tecwyn Evans with movement choreographed by Remi Wörtmeyer. A choir added to the sonic richness, sheer scale and layering of the piece.
Yaron is known for his innovative and considered approach to lighting. He knew he needed to work with the highest quality fixtures to deliver the precision and depth he wanted to help engage audiences.
The two Acts needed totally contrasting lighting treatments, and with a minimalist set, lighting also played an architectural role.
He had been wanting to use Robe's refined DL7 LED range in a production for some time, and this was a perfect opportunity to specify these designed-for-theatre fixtures as the leading 'base elements'.
Thirty-three DL7S Profiles, 17 x DL7F Washes and 8 x DL4S profiles were distributed on overhead LX bars and on side booms.
"The DL7s are amazing performers" continues Yaron, "The optics are incredible and the shutters are really precise and reliable thanks to the 16-bit control which enabled us to light tiny objects on the stage in really close proximity without a single lumen of spillage".
While the DL7s worked hard creating base lighting and specials, the BMFLs - of which he had 13 x BMFL Blades and 4 x BMFL Wash XFs - were also real workhorses.
Four of the blades were rigged over-stage on drop arms to give them a clear path to project custom tree-branch gobos - some with cherry blossoms - onto a front gauze for the walk-in and interval.
The BMFL Wash XFs were positioned in the upstage corners and used for specials and also to wash the whole stage area.
Fifteen Robe Strobes - the white version - are used to create the tsunami moment.
As the colossal waves consume everything in their path, the Strobes are a perfect illuminative metaphor - literally blinding the audience throwing them back in their seats with near physical effect - at the cataclysmic end of Act One.
As the post-tsunami world in the immediate aftermath emerges, the 10 Spikies are used to augment the torchlight in the first moments of the second act where individuals and search parties desperately trawl through the wreckage for signs of life - revealing the hope, optimism and strength of the human spirit.
(Jim Evans)
