Ljubljana, Slovenia – Ljubljana Puppet Theatre is famous for both puppet productions as well as live dramas, musicals, and other performances in and around its various spaces, which are also available for business events. The 200 capacity Saint Jacob’s Hall auditorium has recently re-opened after a complete eight-month renovation plan. This latest technical upgrade included the installation of 16 Robe T1 LED Profile moving lights.
They join earlier Robe purchases across the venue’s other four performance spaces including The Tunnel, which burrows into the hill beneath Ljubljana Castle and has 12 CycFX8s which light the long corridor audience areas. The 180-seat St Jacob’s Stage, the Main Stage, Small Stage, and the Stage Under the Stars located on the top floor with a glass roof showing off the night skies all share 12 LEDBeam 150s and nine LEDWash 300+s which can be moved around for different shows as needed.
The Robe fixtures were all selected by technical manager Jure Žnidaršič and his team, and based on their performance, features, and the success of the theater’s longer-term investments in Robe which started in 2011 with ColorSpot and ColorWash 250 luminaires which were specified by the LD for a puppet show that played on the Stage Under the Stars.
With the Saint Jacob’s Hall refurbishment, Žnidaršič and his colleagues knew that anything new needed to be LED, and they are adopting the technology for all the obvious reasons. In this instance, they specifically wanted a light with excellent additive color mixing. Having seen the T1 Profiles in action during open days and other events and demonstrations organized by Robe’s Slovenian distributor, MK Light Sound, they were all confident that this was the right choice.
The T1 Profiles have already made a huge difference to how shows and performances can be lit. “The fixtures are quick to program and bring a huge flexibility to the stage that we simply didn’t have before,” elucidated Žnidaršič, explaining that the theater has stayed running as a COVID-safe rehearsal space throughout most of the pandemic and has also been busy preparing various shows for when they fully re-open later in the summer.
Lighting is at the essence of any puppet show. It helps convey the narrative and creates numerous special effects making the figures come alive and assume their characters. It is as vital there as for live acting shows, and profile lights are equally important to both genres of performance as well, particularly as front light in puppet theater. “Profiles have to be super-accurate, reliable and return to the same positions every time without fail, and that’s why we chose the Robe T1s,” stated Žnidaršič, adding that Robe has proved a “stable and reliable” choice over several years, and they look forward to many more.
All the Robes have been delivered by Robe’s Slovenian distributor MK Light Sound, and Žnidaršič also mentions the “excellent” working relationship, service, and backup they have with the distributor as another good reason for selecting Robe.
In a standard year, Lutkovno Gledališče Ljubljana under the direction of Uroš Korenčan and creative direction of Ajda Rooss will stage around 1,200 shows including 16 premiers. Around 900 will be puppet-based, approximately 200 will be standard drama/musical and another 100 will be corporate shows and events.
The theater’s current building nestling at the bottom of the Ljubljana Castle hill was built in 1899 as a theater and became home of Lutkovno Gledališče in 1984. It was very successful and grew quickly, taking over the entire building in 2012, and it now supports a substantial operation. The full working crew includes around 42 technicians working across all five stages, puppet, set, scenery, and costume workshops, plus all the commercial and administration staff and another 30 working actors and puppeteers.
The smallest puppets are 12 cm in height and perform on a 20 x 30 cm mobile stage, which is in addition to the five somewhat larger fixed performance spaces.
Lutkovno Gledališče is a much-loved – locally and internationally – element of Slovenia’s vibrant capital city’s cultural fabric, and right at the heart of its community.
Even during the pandemic, they have delivered around 900 puppet performances as school tours around Slovenia have continued, and in May the theater re-opened with The Wizard of Oz with lighting by Jaka Varmuž, which is also the first production playing back in the Saint Jacob’s Hall and using the new Robe T1 Profiles.
Further information from Robe: www.robe.cz
