Designed by renowned architect Rafael Viñoly, Curve Leicester features two auditoria: a main auditorium of 800 fixed seats and a smaller versatile space of 400 seats. 32 tonne steel walls separate the stage from the foyer and can be lifted out to make the stage visible from street level. The open plan foyer is enclosed by a glass façade offering views onto the café, bars and across the stage. The resulting transparency reflects the concept behind the design, which is to make the arts accessible to the public at every level.
"This is, in effect, a theatre turned inside out," says capital and projects director, Graham Lister, "designed with the express intent of celebrating the craft of theatre making. There are times when the public can witness fit-ups as they happen which wouldn't normally be possible in a standard theatre.
"We were very fortunate that the Arts Council were keen for grant money to be invested in equipment. We have made a conscious decision to equip the theatre with the best available and provide a good stock of high quality equipment able to cope with the varied demands this multi-use venue would put upon it."
Curve Leicester produces its own work in addition to receiving touring productions. Also, the transparent nature of the building and variable configurations of performing space means that lighting equipment must be both durable and adaptable, able to be moved around the building and put to a variety of uses. It is the job of technical manager of lighting, Chris Flux, and his team to put the equipment through its paces.
The final installation for the main auditorium includes 20 Robert Juliat 710SX2 10/25° 2.5K profiles, 40 RJ 329HPB 2.5K pebble-convex and 10 RJ 329HF 2.5K fresnels, each with rotating barn doors with Robert Juliat's individually rotating leaves. Follow spots come in the form of three RJ Aramis 4.5° - 8° 2.5K HMI follow spots and two RJ 1200W HMI Super Korrigan 7° - 14° follow spots, each with DMX dimming control.
A total of nine Robert Juliat Jalousie digital dimming shutters are used as a means of mechanically dimming the 4K HMI discharge units and custom beam-light follow spots used in the main auditorium. Flexibility for lighting the foyer and the smaller auditorium is provided by 70 RJ Lutins 1K spotlights, with a total of 30 fresnel- and 40 pebble-convex interchangeable lenses. All Robert Juliat equipment was supplied by White Light.
Look out for more on Curve in the March 2009 issue of Lighting&Sound magazine.
(Jim Evans)
