MAC TW1™ Basis of Design on West End’s “Gone With the Wind”

The classic novel “Gone With the Wind” has been set to music and had a recent run at the New London Theatre in London’s West End. Adapted by renowned director Sir Trevor Nunn, the epic stage production was lit by Neil Austin who has worked extensively for the Donmar Warehouse, National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Almeida and in the West End.

Tungsten addict
“We approached it as a play with music rather than a musical,” said Neil. “The show is referenced from the book rather than the film - although we needed to acknowledge the film as well.

“I’m a tungsten addict. I prefer it as the main light source. I love the warmth of tungsten on faces and the true clarity of skin tone it gives. As the play is set in the southern states of the US, tungsten was essential to depict the hot southern heat as well.”

MAC TW1
So, which tungsten source does a confessed addict use?

“I had previously used the Martin MAC TW1 at the National Theatre as a test unit and was very impressed,” Neil continues. “Then I speced ten units on the RSC’s King Lear, which travelled all around the world.

“At that point we needed a tungsten wash light with the ability to zoom and change color, and they were just fantastic. They were incredibly reliable despite being thrown around on the tour. They’re a beautifully bright unit - tight with the ability to flood. For “Gone With the Wind” I wanted to use them again as the basis of my design.”

The MAC TW1 is quickly becoming a regular in theatres across the globe, including on the West End and Broadway. It is a silent, 1200 W tungsten wash light that features a clean and even soft-edged beam, motorized zoom and rich CMY color mixing. It can be run from either a built-in dimmer or external dimmer.

Flexibility
“The lights really needed to be flexible enough to do anything, and the TW1s gave us that. The show moves from a spectacular epic to a smaller, more personal and domestic play about Scarlett and her love life. On top of that, on the first day of rehearsals the script was still being formed, and we hadn’t yet heard the music. Trevor Nunn demanded this sort of flexibility right up until the last day of previews.”

Lighting supply for the show was by PRG. “Pete Marshall had been interested in purchasing some tungsten wash lights and we discussed the TW1s early on and Pete agreed to buy 31 of them,” Neil states.

‘designer’s preference’
Pete Marshall from PRG commented: “We were searching for some time for what we thought was the best tungsten wash light on the market. We researched a variety of lights for about nine months to a year and spoke with our customers and top LDs. In the end the Martin won hands down. Most LDs felt that the MAC TW1 was a better unit. It is quieter and has a better color spectrum. They are the designer’s preference in the West End.”

Which is something Neil would agree with.

“The TW1 offers perfect - absolutely perfect color rendition,” Neil says. “Whatever is on the color scroll, I can match on the TW1’s. And that is all the way across the beam.

Some lights offer you the Pepsi logo – a bit of pink on the top a little bit of blue at the bottom, but the TW1 has an absolutely even color field, smooth from center to edge.

“The noise from moving lights is also a major issue. It would be terribly unfair for the lighting department if a sound designer used top-of-the-line speakers which also happened to have 100w lightbulbs attached to them. The same can be said for noise coming from moving lights. The TW1s are completely quiet, so what more could you possibly want?”

Matthew Eagland was the associate designer on the show, Steve Mulholland the programmer and Fraser Hall the production electrician.