NYMPSFIELD, U.K. — Lighting designer Andy Webb of Tigz Productions recently lit a production of Goth at Woodchester Mansion, an unfinished Gothic revival structure created by William Leigh but abandoned by its builders in 1870 and now only occupied, according to local legend, by ghosts. No spectral denizens were sighted during the promenade performances staged by Dramarama, a youth theatre group, but Webb’s lighting design helped the audience experience the show based on the mansion’s stories and folklore as they traveled through 13 different locations on three levels within the structure, including the chapel, the cellar and numerous galleries and unfinished rooms.
Tigz was asked to provide lighting and all necessary technical support, including power and distribution. Webb needed only a single 150 KVA generator for the 47 Anolis ArcLine RGB LED strips plus Robe ColorWash 750 AT Tungsten and ColorSpot 700E AT moving lights and other lighting equipment used for the event. Bath-based enlightened supplied the gear.
Webb, who has used ArcLines on shows before, used a mix of ArcLine 36s and 12s to highlight Woodchester’s architecture, including the vaulted ceilings, long corridors, interconnecting galleries and staircases and arches. “ArcLine was an extremely versatile option,” said Webb.
The 47 Anolis fixtures were each driven by individual ArcPower 36 drivers and programmed into a Road Hog Full Boar console, with the house divided into 13 separate DMX zones.
For the two main performance spaces on the ground floor, the Tigz crew rigged two sets of Zenith wind up towers, each with a minibeam truss to provide additional high level lighting positions.
The dining room featured four Robe ColorWash 750 AT Tungstens. “I needed an absolutely super-silent rig in this room,” said Webb, “Many of the actors were very young, so it was essential their voices could be clearly heard.”
Webb used a warm wash light with a “radiant” quality of light to fill the room evenly, illuminating up to 30 performers at a time.
There were also various Source 4s and 1K fresnels used for keylighting installed around the performance rooms, all of which were lit with Anolis to set the mood for each scene. The light sources were concealed from the audience as they watched and engaged in the action.
Woodchester Mansion’s exterior was lit with combination of blue MBI fixtures, overlaid with gobos from four Robe ColorSpot 700E ATs housed in weather domes. These instruments lit the exterior with a slow, almost imperceptible visual movement, provided by an animation wheel — almost ghost-like in texture.
The Tigz lighting and technical crew included Jim Hobbs, production electrician, and Chris Gunnell, Adam Tye, Phil Nail, Will Mercer and Alex Sharp. The crew ran close to 4.5 kilometers of power and data cable around the venue for the five performances, which took place over two weekends and presented for more than 500 visitors.
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