As Ruslan Semenov, general director of ETC Russia, explains, "It took our team a month and a half to prepare the video content for the show. The work was done on stage under the direct supervision of Konstantin Raikin. Daily rehearsals with the theatre company enabled us to achieve unique synchronisation between the video elements and the actors' performances, as well as between the show as a whole and each individual scene."
To bring Konstantin Raikin's ideas to life, the set design was somewhat minimalist: throughout the two acts of the nearly three-hour performance, a single structure occupies centre stage. Thanks to the power of video mapping, this structure completely transforms the on-stage space, creating the required atmosphere and ambience.
Four Christie Roadster S+20K three-chip DLP projectors (each with a light output of 20,000 ANSI lumens) were installed in the projection room at the side of the auditorium, in order to project images onto the structures on stage from a distance of 23m. A central component of the structure is a bicycle ramp, and for good reason: most of the actors in this production are Konstantin Raikin's students at the Moscow Art Theatre School. They enter the stage on bicycles and scooters and perform a variety of stunts, first attacking the vertical surface of the ramp to launch into astonishing aerial turns that ultimately end with them shooting, bullet-like, off stage.
Andrey Efarov also noted, "This production is very emotional plot-wise, so it was important for us to provide the appropriate technical solution - extremely reliable and absolutely flawless technology. This is why we opted for our standard approach, using Christie projectors and our own OnlyViewTM software. It was this combination that enabled us to bring the director's vision to life."
(Jim Evans)
