Conceived by the show's designer Es Devlin, the unique screens play an integral part in the PSB production. Stretching and elongating from a relatively small 4sq.m to take up the full width of the stage, the screens can be projected on, or lit from inside using Versa Tubes. They have been constructed in such as way as to allow dancers to perform inside them, on two levels. Mounted on wheels, they can be easily moved into several different configurations, including side on to the audience.
"It's the most staged and theatrical concert I've ever worked on," says PSL's Pod Bluman, comparing it to fringe theatre rather than a rock show. "This is very much a festival tour, and it all needs to go in one truck. They wanted something different, but also something simple."
The show uses a triple stack of Barco R12+ projectors, the first call on PSL's new stock, which offer portability advantages over the previous model without compromising brightness.
"The Pet Shop Boys are headlining at all their festival shows this summer, and, in those situations, the projection technician is under great pressure to get the projection absolutely right in very little time. Luckily we have the ever-reliable Julian Hogg to travel with the production."
(Chris Henry)
