Bell Shakespeare’s new premises perfectly combines the heritage features of Pier 2/3 with the contemporary needs of their artists and audiences. It features two expansive spaces to experience their work; their flagship performance space The Neilson Nutshell, and companion venue The Seed.
The Neilson Nutshell is a blank canvas, fully configurable for a wide range of events, from dinner and cocktail functions to conferences, lectures and – of course – live performances. The venue features moveable plush seating banks which can be positioned to suit an event or removed from the space altogether.
The Seed is Bell Shakespeare’s dedicated education space and is versatile in its setup. The adjoining spaces can be hired separately for simple events or together for more complex events.
The Neilson Nutshell
The theatre system supplied and installed by HME Services comprises fixed rigging points, theatrical pipe grids, theatrical drapes and curtain tracks, fixed lighting bars, technical panels and lighting equipment.
Theatrical drapes and tracks provide masking and the capacity to alter the venue acoustically and spatially. The Nutshell has the potential to fully enclose the space in black wool, partially cover individual walls or just remove the drapes entirely and show off the prestigious architecture of the building.
Twelve static rigging points installed throughout the space provide locations for suspended equipment or assisted lifting. A suspended pipe grid system occupies the ceiling of the space providing a flexible rigging system for scenery and performance technology.
Eighteen fixed lighting bars provide overhead infrastructure for performance lighting and rigging throughout the room and have a total of 144 circuits distributed across their total quantity. On the floor level, six technical panels and a floor box provide low lighting circuit connections.
The lighting supplied includes sixteen ETC Source 4 Series 2 Lustr+, sixteen ETC Source 4 25–50° Jr Zoom, sixteen ETC Coloursource PAR LED, sixteen ETC Coloursource Linear and an ETC Ion XE 12K for control. Also supplied was an ELO Touch Screen, ETC Ion XE RPU-12K Remote Processing Module, a Pathway Pathport Octo and six Pathport C Series Nodes.
The Seed
The installed theatre systems in Bell Shakespeare’s secondary space include fixed rigging points, theatrical drapes and curtain track, fixed lighting bars, technical panels, a fire trip system and theatre equipment.
Four static rigging points installed throughout the space provide locations for suspended equipment or assisted lifting along the ceiling line. Underneath these are seven fixed lighting bars to provide infrastructure for performance lighting throughout the room, supporting a total of 112 circuits distributed across their total quantity. Like the larger venue, the lighting system is bolstered further by floor-level outlets distributed amongst four technical panels and one floor box.
Theatrical drapes and tracks provide masking and the capacity to alter the venue acoustically and spatially. The requirement for the theatre drapes to open on a fire alarm has meant that two openings in the track system are created once the fire panel triggers an event. This is managed by a counterweight/solenoid system that is housed above the south joinery.
Lighting supplied by HME includes six ETC Coloursource PAR LED, ten ETC Coloursource Linear and a Coloursource 40 Console.
Both venues’ lighting systems route back to a shared dimmer room housing twelve LSC 12 channel dimmers and a Redback Patch Bay that houses 308 circuits, allowing for any configuration of circuits to be used as required by the space.
