Robe Spiiders discover the Suffocating Truth
- Details
The show visited five cities and played totally different spaces in each. Apart from being highly adaptable, Gareth needed a rig that would fit into a trailer and work aesthetically in the six unique venues, that was also flexible enough to provide dynamic lighting for the work which explores sexuality, expectation and emotional crises.
In addition to the four Spiiders which were on the floor at each corner of the space, Gareth also used four Robe DL4S Profiles on Manfrotto stands. Moving lights were “absolutely essential to get the variety of looks and effects needed to build the tension and atmosphere," he explained.
He worked closely with Lukas who conceived, choreographed and directed as well as performed along with five others.
It was performed in the round which brought an additional resonance and made a very intimate connection with the audience who were virtually sitting-in on the action, which also heightened the need for very specific lighting.
The DL4S Profile was chosen because Gareth needed a fixture with good focus and shutters. He thinks these are "perfect" for theatre shows with those features plus the excellent colours.
His first impression of the Spiider was from studying the online videos and applying his imagination to the tech spec, and although impressed with this, he was even more pleasantly surprised by their appearance and brightness seeing them for real! He particularly likes the flower effect which is used strategically with great impact in ‘The Suffocating Truth’.
He also maximised the saturated colours, using them to develop some of the many nuances and motifs permeating the piece.
Another challenge on the tour was the considerable tweaking required to make the lighting work in each of the different venues in limited turnaround and technical time. Once again, having flexible fixtures was a key to optimising this.
Gareth thinks the Spiiders have some great features for dance shows, and worked in conjunction with the DL4S’s and four LED wash lights, his lighting cues added a physical presence and assisted in eliciting responses from audiences throughout the 90 minutes of performance.
Around 250 cues in the ETC Ion console were fired via the QLab run soundtrack using OSC (open sound control) via Ethernet.
(Jim Evans)
