For the first time a Stage Technologies' Illusionist control desk, designed specifically to make automation accessible for plays and small venues, has been used to automate a West End production. The new stage adaptation of Agatha Christie's bestseller And Then There Were None used this new product to provide simple and cost-effective control for the Art Deco sets designed by Mark Thompson.
The show opened in the West End's Gielgud Theatre in October 2005 and runs through mid-January. The tale of crime is told against changing scenes with lounge sofas, coffee tables, dining room and patio furniture moving on automated trucks, sliding quickly and smoothly into position to completely change the setting. Stage Technologies Illusionist control desk has been installed in many fixed venues in the UK and America, but this is the first time it has been used as a simple rental solution for automating a small number of axes.
According to automation operator Patrick Stanier, the training and support Stage Technologies provided made the Illusionist control desk “so easy to use and program.”