This year’s winners included Simon Butcher, for the television drama Casualty, Roger Williams for the variety series Tonight’s the Night, Matt Carter for the morning talk show ITV Daybreak, Al Gurdon for the Super Bowl Halftime Show, Michael Straun for the Glasvegas tour, Nick Whitehouse for the last Kylie Minogue tour, Jamie Thompson for The Script’s current tour, Charles Atlas for the dance production Tate Project, Wolfgang Goebbel for the opera Tristan und Isolde, Bruno Poet for the National Theatre production of Frankenstein, and Hugh Vanstone for the West End musical The Wizard of Oz.
But the night’s standing ovation went to Richard Pilbrow, whose lifetime as a lighting designer, from the West End in the 1950s to the new National Theatre and beyond, was lauded by his peers. Designer Durham Marenghi, who noted that Pilbrow had inspired several generations of LDs since establishing the U.K.’s first lighting design company in 1957, presented the award.
Each winner received the traditional Knight of Illumination trophy, a Medieval battle sword handmade in Toledo, Spain. Sarah Rushton-Read chaired the awards for the Rock category, Stuart Gain for TV and Mark Jonathan for the Theatre. The host for the event, held in London’s Hyde Park Hilton, was Jon Petts of Pulsar Light. Along with organizer Clay Paky, the sponsors included Osram, AED Rent, Avolites, DBN Lighting, ELP, EQ Lighting, ET Now, GLP, Hawthorn, HSL, MA Lighting and Vortex.
After the awards, there was a short ceremony during which Pasquale Quadri, President of Clay Paky, made a donation to lighting charity Light Relief. Established by and for the entertainment lighting industry, Light Relief was formed to help lighting designers in times of extreme hardship by providing practical support or financial help. The charity relies entirely on donations from individuals and manufacturers of lighting equipment as well as support from major industry associations.
For more information, please visit www.knight-of-illumination.com.
