Robe’s Czech and Slovakian distributor KVS recently specified and supplied Robe moving lights to the Janikova Stodola Theatre which is an integral part of the ‘Wooden Townlett’, a historical ‘experience’ and the oldest area – dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries – of the Wallachian Open Air Museum. This is situated right at the heart of Robe’s home town of Rožnov pod Radhoštěm in the Czech Republic.
Shows staged there are enjoyed by numerous schools and educational groups from all over the country, plus a constant stream of tourists checking out this beautiful mountainous region.
The Theatre has recently undergone a complete refurbishment. It’s busy schedule sees the staging of a wide variety of professional and amateur productions, including the Museum’s own productions and those from visiting companies.
When it came to upgrading the technology to offer new and exciting facilities for the shows, KVS was approached to offer technical expertise and advice, and KVS’s Jaromír Satinský proposed a highly cost effective and flexible package of Robe units that would cover all their lighting needs, along with some generic fixtures.
Satinský and Stanislav Senkýr from DV Centrum designed the lighting system and undertook all the technical engineering involved, also consulting with the theatre’s lighting designer and operator, Zdenèk Jandík.
The rig consists of four Robe ColorWash 575 AT Zooms and four ColorSpot 575E ATs, plus generics, all of which are installed on the over-stage bars. “It’s the first time the theatre has had moving lights,” says Satinský, ” So it represents a real investment in technology and has transformed the way they have been able to work and produce shows”.
Jandík, who joined the theatre’s technical team to help oversee the installation – undertaken by TS Technik from Brno – and manage the new equipment, which also includes AV and audio, comments, “It is amazing just how much creative scope just 8 moving lights can bring to a venue like this. It means we can also offer a properly professional design service to all those utilising the stage”.
He comments that the zoom facility on the ColorWashes is invaluable for a theatre environment, which caters for anything from poetry and spoken word performance to full on dance shows and classical drama productions. The ColorSpots are great for producing any special lighting effects needed, and “Having the precision of moving light technology at your fingertips makes designing and tech’ing a production an extremely efficient process.”
The funding for the refurbishment was partly supported by a reciprocal Arts & Culture grant from Norway, and as part of this, they were keen to use local companies as suppliers. “We have all the technology right here,” says Satinský, “so it was also a great opportunity to showcase it”. The Museum has also won an Award for the Best Spending of the grant.
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