Blackburn UK based lighting rental company HSL once again supplied lighting across 4 buildings and 15 theatres for C venues, who provided the largest theatre and new writing programme of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
HSL has been working with C venues since 2005. The project was co-ordinated between Mike Oates at HSL and C venues production manager Richard Williamson, who also co-designed the C venues spaces with artistic director (and international lighting designer) Hartley T A Kemp. The lighting supply included the provision of generic and moving lights, dimming, power distribution and trussing, plus a technician – this year Ellen Connolly– for the fit up and get out periods, who trained the C venues crews who ran the shows for the month-long duration of the Festival.
This year, HSL invested in the new Avolites Power Cubes to supply various C venues spaces with a perfect solution for small theatres needing a mix of dimming and hard power. Their new Robe ROBIN 300 Series moving lights are also proving ideal for those expediently sized spaces benefitting from the dynamics of moving lights for their different productions.
Mike Oates commented, "We were proud to be working with C venues again. We all enjoy sharing the passion, energy and dedication that goes into staging so many excellent and diverse productions, often with minimal production and always with maximum imagination."
This featured 4 theatres on 4 floors and was also the C venues administrative HQ for the duration of the festival.
Into 3 of the theatres, HSL supplied between 36 and 48 ways of dimming. The largest space C +3 had a 48-way ART dimmer, and the other two each had 2 x Power Cubes. (The fourth space had house dimming).
C-1 had a small moving light rig of 6 x Robe ROBIN 300s. Richard Williamson commented that he really liked these, especially the zoom on the spot, which dramatically increases the usefulness of fixtures in small spaces like these. He added that they are also "quick and quiet" – essentials for the very specific production requirements of fringe theatre.
In the C bar – a major social hub for all involved in the Festival – HSL power distro was utilised along with Pulsar ChromaStrips and ChromaPAR LED fittings.
C soco
This venue consisted of 3 black box studios, each with 36 ways of dimming from 2 x Power Cubes and 24 lights, mainly Selecon Acclaims, Source Fours and PARs.
There were a further 3 site-specific spaces in Soco, all lit with a few lanterns, power distro and dimming.
The whole Soco building was run off a temporary mains supply, for which HSL were providing all the heavy mains and secondary distro needed to take power from a 150 KVA generator parked outside, and distribute it all around the building where needed.
C soco urban garden
This was a very lively late night bar/canteen, in true fringe style occupying an outdoor space left when a whole block of the Old Town was destroyed by fire. It was connected to C soco via a large ramp and balcony built for the Festival in scaffolding.
The garden was lit with Robe ColorSpot 1200E ATs and a selection of LED uplighters, wall washers, festoon and Source Fours. All the necessary power distro was supplied, and the lights combined to enhance an already atmospheric setting, highlighting the natural charisma of the space.
C central
The Carlton Hotel right on North Bridge in the centre of town, this year hosted two studio theatres with identical technical lighting specs to the three in Soco – so 36 dimmers, Acclaim fresnels, Source Four profiles and PARs. There was also a Cabaret Bar, which was lit with Acclaims and MR16 battens.
C too
C too was in a church hall on Johnson Terrace, one of the oldest venues on the fringe, where the lighting consisted of 48 ways of dimming, a selection of conventional fixtures and 6 Robe ROBIN 300s – Spots and 4 x Washes.
C plaza
C's new premier venue used Edinburgh University's George Square Theatre in the heart of the city, This was a new venture for C venues this year. It was also the largest in terms of stage and audience space, and was being used to stage a wide variety of musical and dance productions.
HSL supplied about 60 generic fixtures here including Selecon fresnels, ETC Source Four profiles and PARs, along with 8 x ROBIN 300 Spot and Wash moving lights.
The foyer – also used as a performance space – featured HSL trussing and mains distribution for the lights, and the exterior of the building was illuminated at night by 2 Robe ColorSpot 1200E ATs housed in weatherproof domes.
Richard Williamson commented, "It was great having HSL onboard again. The service was excellent, punctual and efficient, the kit was well maintained and we were very happy with the support at all levels.
For more press info on the HSL Group, please contact Louise Stickland on +44 (0)1865 202679/+44 (0)7831 329888 or Email [email protected]. Contact HSL direct on +44 (0)1254 698808, ‘[email protected]' or check www.hslgroup.com.