The garrison town of Leopoldsburg in Belgium was a perfect setting for the large
scale promenade theatrical spectacle “De Groote Rappel’, directed by Luc Stevens
and featuring a large community cast from the city telling the story of two world
wars, with the final act played out in a quadrangle in front of a prominent army
barracks.
Lighting was designed by Michel Jacobs, a freelance LD with a track record of
lighting more unusual or offbeat performances and a penchant for less commercial
sectors, and Timothy Haesevoets from Leopoldsburg City Theatre.
The two both agreed that Robe moving lights – specifically BMFL Blades and DL4Ss
were the way forward to light this challenging scenario.
Of 14 x BMFL Blades, eight were positioned along the front of the grandstand
seating, with six at the back … up on the third floor of the building pointing out and
down through the windows from which the glass was removed. They were rigged 3
a side on short trusses on stands.
The front BMFL Blades were used to cover the building with crisp gobos and rich
saturated colours – their intensity had great impact even on the red brick building –
another notoriously difficult surface for any type of projection to register.
The 12 x DL4Ss were also picked as a versatile, bright, feature-packed LED profile
fixture that is designed for theatrical environments and rigged on six T-towers
dotted around the rear of the performance space which meant they could light in
either direction – backwards or forwards – as well as illuminating the trees
bordering the performance space. This saved on additional foliage wash lights.
The DL4Ss were purchased especially for the show by rental company Demon and
delivered via Robe’s Benelux distributor Controllux in time for De Groote Rappel.
The DL4Ss produced smooth, even back washes and general illumination, side
lighting and secondary gobo layering. The CTO white in these and the BMFL Blades
was useful to bring a period feel to certain scenes and capture the tungsten
ambience that the director really wanted.
Four Robe Pointes were rigged to the grandstand for front key lighting, sometimes
used with their frost filters for covering wider distances and chorus scenes with
clean, well-defined light.
Operating lights for the show was Kenan Akus using a ChamSys MQ100 with two
fader wings, and Kristof van Broekhoven looked after the sound.
The Groote Rappel shows exuded freshness and vitality from a highly skilled
production team and an enthusiastic cast. Lighting – for a small amount of fixtures
and imposingly large area to cover – embraced all the emotions. It was dramatic,
stark, playful and fun, moving the action along and flipping between multiple
locations and making the whole experience intimate and personal for the audience
to enjoy.
