WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • APRIL 2020 71THEATRE
be seen, and this in turn means the stage
setting doesn’t appear so realistic and so
defeats the prime objective.”The stage setting and the dining experience
are lit with a broad variety of fixtures.
“We use a lot of practical lights - festoon
lighting, hanging lanterns, backlit windows,
and so on - and then supplement this with
a general dapple of evening light breaking
through the scenic trees,” says Woodroffe.
“This is our base lighting state that changes
throughout the evening as night falls. This
is pretty much the way that the whole of first
act is lit as the audience eat their dinner.
It’s purposefully naturalistic and allows our
audience to really believe they are on
a Greek island and not inside the O2 on
a damp, chilly evening next to the Thames!
For the next two acts, there’s much more
fantasy and theatrics and so the lighting
continuously develops to reflect this.”Although the show has its share of FX
towards the final segment, there is,
refreshingly, no AV to distract from the
contained intimacy of the room. The
primary look here is the ambient setting
that can then transform, as Woodroffe
explains: “The ‘big’ effect is that the
whole rig that has been used to create
the theatrical conceit of being in a Greek
taverna metamorphoses into a rig we usewith colour, effect and dynamics in a way
that hasn’t been seen in the preceding
hour and a half. Even the backlit windows
flash and chase in colour.”Woodroffe Bassett Design has been
working with projects that mix the genres of
theatrical and show lighting for the last few
years; Woodroffe himself believes that this
style of immersive entertainment is one that
is likely to endure and progress. “Immersive
is such a great name for this sort of theatre
as the audience really become a part of
the performance,” he says. “I believe this is
an area that has the potential to offer new
opportunities for show production. I love
both the mediums of touring and static
productions, but the main difference from
a lighting perspective, between a sit-down
theatre event and a touring show is the
amount of control you have when you don’t
have to take the rig down and then put it up
again every few days. There is something
very satisfying about finessing a lighting
design over and over again in rehearsals
until it’s just right.”Whilst performances of Mamma Mia!
The Party are currently suspended due to
the coronavirus pandemic, the show is
scheduled to run until August, providing
the circumstances allow the O2 to safely
reopen. I(r)evolution
Every once in a while, something comes along that tears up the rulebook and
revolutionises an industry. This is one of those moments: the Satellite Modular
Laser System from the Visionaries of the display industry – Digital Projection.SATELLITE
MODULAR LASER SYSTEMThe Visionaries’ ChoiceThe Visionaries’ Choice
http://www.digitalprojection.com
1996
3,000 lumens
60 kg
2003
16,000 lumens
113 kg
2016
27,000 lumens
132 kg
2020
> 40,000 lumens
< 40 kgLSI-Magazine-Post-ISE.indd 1 26/02/2020 12:21
“Our main concern
was to try to hide
as much of the
technology as
possible, both in
the lighting fi xtures
themselves and
the rigging
associated with
them.. .”
- Patrick Woodroffe