LIVERPOOL, U.K. – Adlib provided lighting gear and crew for Russell Howard's Right Here Right Now U.K. arena tour, led by production manager Neil McDonald and Russell's tour manager, Russell Young.
Adlib's Ian Tomlinson provided the lighting design. Andy Rowe operates the rig on the road, working with technicians Neil Holloway and Mike Summerfield.
The challenge was to make the stage an intimate and friendly spatial space for the delivery of a comedy show with the focus on Howard, alone on the stage with a single chair.
Tomlinson created a basic architectural structure for the performance space to give it some shape and form via four scenic columns measuring 30 feet high by 2 meters in diameter, made from white sharkstooth gauze. Inside these hang four 30-foot-high by 1-meter-wide drapes made from Polyester canvas. These are printed with the words, Russell, Howard, Right Here and Right Now and lit from the top and bottom. All the drapes were made and printed by Halifax-based J & C Joel.
There are five trusses in the roof, three for lighting and two for drapes and soft goods, with the two offstage columns hung from the mid truss and the two onstage ones flown off the back lighting truss.
Behind these are two 20-by-30-foot black drapes on each side, with a central gap, and upstage of these is the very rear truss, complete with a full black drape which creates an entry/exit point to the stage.
The front truss, which is curved to introduce a greater perception of depth and three-dimensionality to the stage, is rigged with eight Martin Professional MAC 700 Wash moving lights, which are used as general stage washes. There are also 12 2-lite Moles for audience illumination and interactive moments during the set.
On the mid lighting truss are six MAC 301 LED wash lights clustered around the two outer columns towards the end of the trusses. All four columns are also internally lit by a MAC 301 mounted inside at the top and bottom, chosen in part for their compact size. Also on the mid truss are three MAC 700 Profiles, used for beamwork and backlighting of the forestage area.
On the third and most upstage lighting truss are another six MAC 301s lighting the two columns that are flown from that truss, together with six MAC 700 Profiles, used for backlighting and beam work.
The set of nine sun-strips on the floor in front of the drapes and an additional unit for each side of the entranceway add flash for Howard's entrance; he first appears in silhouette.
Two followspots are used on the show, and where these are not available in-house from the venue, Adlib is supplying gear.
Tomlinson's design creates a clean, contemporary backdrop that changes subtly throughout Howard's performance.
For more information, please visit http://www.adlibsolutions.co.uk/.
