Lighting Designer Fredrik Nilsson leaded innovation at the Regional Theatre in the city of Växjö, Sweden. In the production of ORKA, Nilsson and Scenic Designer Paulina Åhnberg created a luminous garden chair, combining a retro design with a futuristic look, using 50 meters of THINLIGHT, an electroluminescent technology used in decor/scenery installations in Scandinavia.
The innovative creation was powered through a battery pack, not just to make it moveable, but to give it a practical use of a common chair. Behind the scenes, a W-DMX Micro Box worked as its stagehand, receiving data from a central controller and enabling this outstanding object to shine and dazzle the spectators.
In conversation with Fredrik – a legacy user of Wireless Solution – he admits: “My biggest challenge with ORKA was the lack of technical time on stage. We are a small touring theatre in southern Sweden, our premises are very limited and that makes the build-up and technical rehearsal times on stage very short. We also had a lot of issues with the video screens (which were part of the set) so most of the technical time had already been used”. Fredrik admitted that using a Plug & Play system as W-DMX was the easiest part of this project.
Controlling the performance was an ETC Congo Jr with a Blackbox F-1, and on the receiver side was a Blackbox R-512 controlling a dimmer backstage, and a Micro R-512 hidden on the chair. “It was a bit of a challenge to hide the Micro Box, as it needed to look just like a garden chair throughout the play. We ended up hiding it on the front, under the seat. We lit up the chair in the last scene and the audience was really surprised!” said Nilsson with great pride.
When asked about difficulties with the wireless Fredrik couldn’t have been clearer: “I have never had any problems with my W-DMX. I just plug it in and it works straight out of the box. So when it was time for buying wireless the choice was pretty easy! Moreover, the Micro Box offers what I needed – a battery powered and portable solution, exactly what this production required”.
Niclas Arvidsson, CEO of Wireless Solution Sweden commented: “ORKA is a perfect example of how we can give flexibility to creators. We can offer a reliable technology that gives innovators the capability to create groundbreaking solutions for entertainment”. Arvidsson added: “Fredrik is a great customer and a forward-thinking innovator, we look forward to seeing future projects as amazing as this one”.
The video reel can be watched here: https://vimeo.com/142862216