Founded in 1968, the amateur Stamford Shakespeare Company has been putting on performances of Shakespeare’s classics for audiences of all ages for over 50 years. Since 1977 the Stamford Shakespeare Company has called the beautiful Tolethorpe Hall home, with their concrete-stepped amphitheater, allowing them to recreate the Shakespearian magic in a similar environment to the original performance spaces.
Looking to upgrade the existing house rig from 1KW Fresnels and frame scrollers, to modern LED replacements, Grant Witton, Stamford Shakespeare Company’s Technical Manager, chose PROLIGHTS EclFresnel TW, which he purchased through A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET), PROLIGHTS’ exclusive UK distributor.
“We needed something to replace the aging and slightly noisy scrollers, but we also wanted a fixture that allowed us to color match seamlessly with gels in the other fixtures in the rig,” commented Witton. “We looked into many different LED Fresnels, but PROLIGHTS was the winner for us for a number of reasons. We found the fixtures to be super bright and the color output very punchy and impressive. We also had to consider our annual budget and were delighted with the cost effectiveness of these Fresnels. They certainly ticked all the right boxes for us.”
The Stamford Shakespeare Company are already putting these fixtures to good use for this season’s performance of Love’s Labours Lost, Humble Boy and The Importance of Being Earnest.
“From a programming point of view, we have noticed such a positive difference,” continues Witton. “The ability to now change color, without the need to either make sure the required colors are next to each other in the scroll, or having to turn the light off, let it scroller then bring them back, will certainly benefit the lighting of upcoming seasons and make it easier to achieve the look we are looking for. In the past we have had to plan the color moves carefully as not to have the loud noise of the scrollers moving from one end to the other—this is now a thing of the past.”
Witton concludes, “We have purchased lights from AC-ET a number of times and have always been very impressed with the quality of service and products received. Their team are always incredibly helpful in advising and sourcing the right products for our needs.”
Photo credits: Nick Farka, Red and Round
Further information from PROLIGHTS: www.prolights.it
