This December, the award-winning stage spectacle Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol returned to Brisbane’s QPAC Theatre. Adapted and created by shake & stir theatre co, this production is a magical, grand-in-scale affair perfect for the entire family.
“The producers, Ross, Nick and Nelle at shake & stir, are dream producers to work for,” commented lighting designer Jason Glenwright. “They have always appreciated my bold approach to lighting design and have complete trust in me to dream big when coming up with design ideas and concepts.
“I always set out to find the best design concept that will suit the style of production. The main element of Josh McIntosh’s set design is six actor-driven moving trucks that are manipulated throughout the show to form different scenes. This meant that I needed a design that could seamlessly transform from scene to scene but also allowed me the flexibility to manipulate colours and effects.”
Hiding, blending and accentuating the theatrical magic which happens throughout the play was Jason’s biggest challenge. There’s video projection which the lighting needs to complement, as well as a variety of states from realistic to internal dream and supernatural forms.
Jason has been working a lot with full LED rigs and loving it saying the output and colour potential has come a long way in the last ten years. The real workhorses of his design are the 20 x Chauvet Ovation Profiles in a high front sidelight position for each acting area.
“They do a great job of keeping the faces active and allow me to dissolve between each state without dipping between different coloured fixtures,” explained Jason. “I have a top light wash of Chauvet R2 moving head washes. They are great when I need a top colour wash or a backlight special anywhere onstage. Initially, when designing the rig, I was looking at some upstage GLP X4 Bars, to create amazing walls of backlight in the haze. However, due to cost, I ended up replacing that idea with a bar of 12 x R2 Washes spaced 0.5m apart. I actually much prefer this idea now to the X4 Bars as they have allowed me so much more flexibility, with the ability to create light walls which then can break into tighter beams and pan to create splays to form different backlight looks for the many scenes!”
Also spread throughout the rig are 12 x Martin MAC Encore CLD that do an amazing job of backlights, toplight gobos and boxes as well as providing breakups across the set and faces. On top of the standard generics of ETC Source Fours and Selecon Pacifics there is also a handful of Martin Atomic strobes and 24 x Chauvet COLORdash LED pars used as sidelight to highlight actors and scenery. Approximately 100m of RGBW LED strip is mounted within the flown scenic items of the set, about 120m of clear festoon bulbs are spaced every half a metre and a row of 12v birdies line the front edge. Twenty Wireless DMX channels and batteries are spread across the six moving trucks. A Robert Juliat Merlin follow spot is front of house and a 1Kw Strand beam light upstage is used as a rear follow spot for one eerie scene entry!.
“We have also deployed an army of atmospheric machines including an MDG hazer, a Unique hazer, two fast dissipating Jem foggers and four low fog machines,” added Jason. “Ian Garrad from Intense Lighting provided the lights for this production. I love working with Intense Lighting on hires for shows as they understand the scale and quality of work we want to produce and provide quality, well-maintained gear at a great price!”
Ten smartAlec snow machine rollers are positioned across three bars over the stage allowing a visually spectacular full stage Christmas snowfall.
“We use light white paper and it gets everywhere: on top of trucks, flown scenic elements and even on the back of the moving lights!” said Jason. “It takes the crew almost an hour to fully clean up the stage post-show.”
There is an epic video design that is incorporated into the show that was created by Craig Wilkinson from Optikal Bloc. The video elements create a range of backdrops on a rear-projected cyc, as well as various Ghost Characters that magically transform into real-life actors onstage. This year a projected clock face was added to the proscenium grand arch which greatly enhanced the surreal changing of time as the ghosts visited Scrooge.
“The thing I appreciate the most is the seamless collaboration between the design team which I believe is integral to putting on an amazing show,” commented Jason. “For almost ten years the team comprising of Michael Futcher (director), Josh McIntosh (designer), Guy Webster (sound) and Craig Wilkinson (video) and I, have together created works with shake & stir. We know when a scene needs something or a transition is feeling off. We trust each other, share cue timings and concepts and help each other elevate scenes and moments. For example, Guy might create a sound and I’ll be sure to support it with light, Craig might tint his content to suit the lighting state, and Josh will just be Josh and create a space that is dynamic, transformable and adaptable. Michael then pulls it all together to ensure a cohesive production. I get a great sense of achievement when watching a sequence and remembering us working together as a team to put that moment together.
“Ultimately, my design is only as good as the crew who work with me, from the riggers and the focusers all the way through to the programmer. Simon Hardy programmed the show on the shake & stir ETC ION and has done a fantastic job building all kinds of states and odd effects. The show is also mainly OSC triggered from QLAB to ensure all sound, lighting and AV cues can be synced together.”
Jason is currently monitoring the fit-out for a shipping container which has been adapted into a clever intimate performance space for a future festival touring production with Homunculus Theatre. He also has Friends The Musical Parody opening at The Star on the Gold Coast next year before it embarks on a nationwide tour. He is also about to start working on the Queensland Theatre production of The Taming of the Shrew directed by Damien Ryan and then a whole bunch of new shows and tours he can’t mention just yet!
Photos: Stephen Henry
