HELSINKI, Finland —Finnish lighting designer Mikki Kunttu has designed lights, screens and sets for the musical Play Me, a new production staged at the Swedish Theatre, based on a virtual reality game intertwined with a talent contest at the Q-Club.
At the core of the lighting rig are 18 Robe ColorSpot 700E ATs, together with some Robe ColorSpot 1200E ATs. It is a compact rig for the visuality and storyline of the show, and as Kunttu puts it, the ColorSpot 700E ATs “really work hard.”
Kunttu’s choice of moving light was based on the best value fixtures available with the most features. He needed units that had both spot and wash capabilities and a “super good strobe.”
The fixtures are hung above the stage in various upstage and downstage positions for optimal stage coverage, with some on the deck. Kunttu uses most of their features and functions during the show, which flips between real and virtual worlds in a mix of music, visuals, acrobatics and choreography.
“Reliability, dynamics and real flexibility” were key elements reinforcing his decision to go with Robe. He’s also been using the brand for a long time and more recently and specifically, the 700 Series on several projects. These currently include two TV shows — Talent Finland and Big Brother Finland, so he knew what they would be “capable of achieving.”
Play Me also features some other moving lights, a host of conventionals and strobes. The theatre is well-suited for the staging of the show, which also includes a chance for the audience to text votes for contestants. They make use of a revolving stage, and both set and screens rotate 360 degrees.
The between scene/location cuts are movie-like in style, which goes well to the show’s heavily video-based visual elements, which required, in turn, that the lighting be diverse and able to mesh seamlessly with the video.
Kunttu programmed the lights himself on a grandMA full size console, and it is now being run by the theatre’s LX crew.
All the rental gear is supplied by Helsinki-based rental operation Moving Light Oy, and the show is currently scheduled to run until Spring 2010 and could extend into the summer.
For more information, please visit www.robe.cz .
