White Light To Supply New Control System to the RSC in Stratford-Upon-Avon

Sales to the RSC in Stratford and many other theatres in White Light’s first months as a Strand Trading Partner

White Light have been selected to supply a complete new lighting control system to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

After months of testing the various alternatives, chief electrician Clive Morris and the Stratford crew selected a system based on Strand’s 500-series range of lighting consoles and making use of the advanced possibilities of Strand’s ShowNet networking system. In what will be one of the most complex yet versatile lighting control systems ever installed in this country, Stratford’s new system will incorporate a 550i main console with four monitors, a 520i sub-console for moving light programming, a Fileserver PC, a backup PC, a designer’s PC, a stage manager’s PC and both wired and wireless handheld remotes. The entire system will be linked by Ethernet, with DMX fed to the theatre’s dimmers from a Strand SN103 network node.

White Light were the ideal choice to supply this new system. They were appointed a Strand Trading Partner earlier in the year. And, through sister organisation The Service Company, they have access to ex-Strand service engineer Antony Bridges. Bridges has worked with Strand and the Stratford crew to design the new system, and will be responsible for installing and testing it on a very tight schedule within the RSC’s repertoire system, where a different show plays every day.

White Light’s sales department have been enjoying success with Strand control and dimming products: as well as the RSC system, they have sold a 530 and a 520 to the Royal Festival Hall, a 520 to the Whitehall Theatre, and a new LD90 dimming system to the Bloomsbury Theatre. The hire department’s Strand desks also remain busy on shows such as Les Miserables, Hey Mr Producer!, Closer , Saturday Night Fever and the forthcoming tour of Oliver!.

In a separate deal, White Light are also supplying the RSC with a variety of new lanterns to replace stock damaged by the recent floods at Stratford-Upon-Avon. The new equipment includes forty Source Four profiles and both 5K tungsten and 2.5K HMI fresnels complete with scrollers.


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