International News

NOTTINGHAM, UK – Currently on the road until the end of October, the Mark Knopfler & Band tour brings all-time Dire Straits and Knopfler classics such as “Sultans of Swing” and “Brothers in Arms” to packed arenas throughout Europe and North America. LD Mark Henderson’s tour rig includes 22 Nexus Aw 7×7 panels from Chauvet Professional.

LONDON – The National Theatre’s production of Everyman is lit by Paul Anderson, with a set design by Ian MacNeil, video design by Tal Rosner and sound design by Paul Arditti. Dan Murfin, the lighting control supervisor at The National, is using features in the new v2.3 software and an Eos Ti desk along with Ableton Live to turn the parameters of the actor’s voice into OSC commands in real time.

LONDON – After adding Prolyte S36PRA truss to its inventory, White Light has used it for a variety of shows and events. The truss was first used by White Light on the recent UK Tour of the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular, produced by BBC Worldwide and Vision Nine (pictured here). The company has also put its recently acquired Martin MAC Aura XB fixtures to work at big events including the Olivier Awards at the Royal Opera House.

MANCHESTER,UK – The ‘10×10′ Day & Night’ event at the Manchester International Festival, featured two special evenings energized with 12 hours of non-stop pumping music, great DJs and live music plus the very best dance vibes to mark 10 years in the city for both the Warehouse Project (WHP) and the biennial Manchester International festival (MIF). Manchester based lighting and visual specialists dbn, working for these two regular clients –– supplied lighting and visuals.

LONDON – Interest surrounding Avolites’ newest lighting console, the live control focused Arena, has been gathering momentum after a number of festival appearances, including at Somerset House’s Summer Series for acts including Angus & Julia Stone. 

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Jo Van den Wijngaerde, manager of Soundfield Productions, credited Rogue R2 Washes from Chauvet Professional for their role in complementing an immersive projected video installation called ‘Discover the Power of Light.’ Soundfield Productions collaborated on the project with B-Phot, the photonics research group of the Vrije Universiteit of Brussels (VUB).

LONDON – Entec provided gear for Portishead’s summer shows. Entec first started working with Portishead through their previous lighting designer Tony Austin, who also originally asked current LD Niall Hannell to come on-board, initially as a programmer in April 2008. Niall took over as LD last year.

PRAGUE – Yaron Abulafia’s exciting new book “The Art of Light on Stage: Lighting in Contemporary Theatre” was launched at the 2015 Prague Quadrennial. Robe is sponsoring this work by the artist and award winning lighting designer. The launch – attended by over 300 guests – took place at the Hybernia Theatre in central Prague. The book is the first history and analysis of theatre lighting design that brings the story bang up to date, with Yaron exploring the poetics of light and charting the evolution of lighting design against the background of contemporary performance.

WINDHOEK, Namibia — The National Theatre of Namibia just got a new Ion control desk, thanks to ETC’s South African dealer Prosound. Prosound’s general manager, Ian Blair, says: “We recently did an extensive upgrade for the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation, and on one of our follow-up visits, we called in at the National Theatre of Namibia, where we met Technical and IT Manager Jack Francis, Jr., and Head of Lighting Asser Kauazunda. Asser and Jack advised that their current, old theater console had reached the end of its life, but with the upcoming Independence Theatre Festival, they really needed a new desk, and fast.”

LONDON — 50 Cent and his group G-Unit returned to London on July 17 for a one-off gig at the O2 Arena. White Light answered the call from producers Musicalize, providing a rig that included Clay Paky Sharpys, Vari*Lite VL3500s, Martin MAC Vipers and i-Pix BB4s along with Phillips Showline SL NITRO 510 strobes to support the lighting design by LD Fraser Elisha.