Since its Broadway premiere on October 20, 1954, the musical Peter Pan has captivated audiences with images of fairies, mermaids, lost boys, pirates, Captain Hook and a tick-tocking crocodile. More than 65 years after its debut, and over 10,000 miles from the Great White Way, the magic of Neverland came to life in a recent production of the J.M. Barrie classic at Parkland High School, outside Burnie, Tasmania.
Supporting the production with vivid colours and evocative gobos was a Chris Foster-designed lightshow. Foster’s design drew on the performance features of the school theatre’s new lighting system, featuring CHAUVET Professional Maverick MK2 Spot fixtures, supplied by Show Systems Australia.
“Parkland High School has a phenomenal new performing arts facility, especially for a small regional public school,” said Mathew Adams of Show Systems. “However, when planning our lighting design, we had to be aware that bar loadings were somewhat limited, so we had to plan the rig for maximum versatility. This made it essential to select fixtures that were both flexible and compact. The choice of Mavericks was key to meeting this objective.”
The Show Systems team placed six Maverick MK2 fixtures on overhead LX bars, and two on the floor among the set pieces. “The Mavericks are largely used for gobo breakups and air effects,” said Adams. “Combining the MK2’s standard gobos with the dual rotating wheels provides a great mix of versatile design opportunities that, when coupled with the fixture’s other beam-altering features, covered the majority of the special looks required for this show.”
Also part of the school theatre’s new lighting system is a collection of CHAUVET DJ fixtures. Included in this group are eight EVE F-50Z Fresnels for high side light, eight EVE E-100Z profile spots for front light, eight Core 3×3, which served as blinders and stage washes, eight SlimPAR QUAD 12 IRC units, and four SlimPAR Pro VW fixtures that are used as side lights hung from booms.
For Adams and the rest of the Show Systems team, creating a transformative lighting design is just one half of the equation. “The most rewarding part of a project like this is the opportunity to help shape budding young performers’ experiences in live theatre. For many students, it’s their first time on stage; there’s always that balance to providing room for young actors to learn and grow from show to show.”
In the case of Parkland High School’s production of Peter Pan, the lighting design helped turn the stage into a fabled island, allowing both audience and performers alike to revel in the innocence of childhood again, when every day was an adventure, and happy thoughts and fairy dust would help you fly.
