Cirque Alice is an extraordinary new show from the creators of the global smash hits The Illusionists, Circus 1903 and Le Noir.
The World Premiere of this incredible adventure, held at QPAC, reimagined Lewis Carroll’s classic adventures with breathtaking twists and astonishing, gravity-defying feats.
French Lighting Designer Hugo Mercier Bosseny lit the production along with his Associate LD / Head LX Aaron Thomas.
Intense Lighting supplied the equipment, including 18 x Ayrton Zonda 9 FX, 22 x Ayrton Perseo Profile S, 28 x Claypaky Sharpy Plus, 8 x Prolight EclProfile CT+ and 24 x ShowPRO Fusion PARs.
“The entire design aesthetic started as a concept, with some elements certain and others remaining unknown until we were in the room with the artist,” commented Aaron. “Only then would we discover how long something would take to break down or move or how visually interesting it truly was. This necessitated a highly flexible design that could deliver strong, saturated colours with intense output. We also needed vast volumes of light to cover every scenario and choreography, as the show was constantly evolving and adapting.”
The Ayrton Zonda 9 FX showcased its broad zoom capabilities and dynamic intensity, from subtle low-light scenes to maximum output, delivering powerful energy to the show.
According to Aaron, the Zonda 9 FX was the workhorse of the show. He explained that they had to make decisions on the fly, and the Zonda 9 FX offered incredible versatility, functioning beautifully as a powerful wash light with a fantastic zoom range.
“The sheer output is impressive,” said Aaron. “It has the power to create an impactful wash, and we have rich, saturated colours and subtle pastels with perfect uniformity across the beam. I couldn’t speak any more highly of it.”
The Ayrton Perseo Profiles served primarily as key lights for the acrobatic performers. Their consistent and reliable illumination was crucial, ensuring the talent could “find their light” every time in their dynamic routines. While their primary role was key lighting, they also added subtle texture and gobos to the stage. Hugo comments that the Perseo’s gobos are well designed for aerial and dynamic effects.
“The combination of the gobos and animation wheel help to create Wonderland’s looks,” Hugo added. “The fine colour adjustment helps to create pastel cue light without compromising the skin tone of the performers.”
“The Claypaky Sharpy Plus fixtures were incredibly invaluable to Cirque Alice, truly deserving of a special mention for their unwavering reliability,” continued Aaron. “As more moving lights transition to LED engines, these units were a fantastic reminder of the sheer power delivered by their 330W lamp. They effortlessly pumped out a solid, bright white beam, seamlessly transitioning from a super-tight focus to a broad spot. This versatility allowed us to create a vast array of looks – from sharp, aerial cutting beams to wide gobo air effects and blinding effects. With their CMY colour mixing, excellent gobo options, and prisms, our creative possibilities felt endless. Their incredibly dependable performance show after the show made our lives that much easier.”
The Prolight EclProfile CT+ fixtures illuminated and added an accent to the upstage garden arch. This arch served as a primary entry and exit point for the cast, narratively leading the audience ‘down the garden path into Wonderland’. Aaron highlighted that the EclProfile CT+ gave the ability to add subtle tints of pink or lavender and to shift between warm and cool tones fluidly. This dynamic colour capability was great for enhancing the scene’s depth and mood as required by the narrative. Positioned from an upstage boom, these fixtures provided the necessary illumination while remaining entirely unseen by the audience, maintaining the theatrical illusion.
The ShowPRO Fusion PARs, provided by QPAC, played a functional and nuanced role in the lighting design. These PARs were an easy way to create a subtle chromatic fringe, adding the extra layer of detail that the producers were looking for to the scene.
“The addition of colour – around shadows, on the shoulders, or in the back of the performers’ hair -was a nice subtle touch Hugo used to break up some of the huge volumes of light when the cast moved around the space,” Aaron explained.
The MA Lighting grandMA3 full-size console was at the heart of the operation. Aaron, a clear fan, couldn’t speak highly enough of it, especially given how seamlessly it handled the entire production.
“It worked very well,” he shared. “This show needs to travel, and we can’t always guarantee the same fixtures in every city. The grandMA3 has all the right features for that; it’s exactly the kind of show I’d recommend building with recipes. Understanding how a feature like recipes works means we can transition the show to another city without losing time merging or cloning data.”
Aaron emphasised that the key takeaway for anyone, new to recipes or not, is simply knowing when to use them and, just as importantly, when not to.
He also had high praise for Intense Lighting, calling them a pleasure to work with due to their solution-focused approach. He added that a vendor’s practical and effective adaptability during creative development makes all the difference.
