Martin and White Light light the Curve

Curve, the new performing arts centre for Leicester has Martin lighting installed as part of their new lighting rig. White Light was contracted to supply the complete lighting rig for the new building, which opened Saturday 1st November 2008.

The final package includes conventional lighting, moving lights, followspots, scrollers, rigging, portable dimming and more. The moving lights are 18 MAC TW1’s, 18 MAC 700 Profiles and 18 MAC 700 Washes from Martin Professional.

The new building, designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects and intended to replace the Leicester Haymarket and form the centrepiece of the city’s new Cultural Quarter, will provide an incredibly versatile series of performance spaces: a principal 750 seat theatre and smaller 350-seat studio theatre with back to back stage, but with the ability to remove the divide between the two stages to create one traverse performance space, or even open the stages up to the spectacular glass foyers and to the world outside if required by a particular production.

Such a versatile building obviously needs a highly versatile stock of lighting equipment to expand upon the range of equipment which will be moved to the new venue from the Haymarket. Curve’s ‘wish list’ was arrived at in long discussions between theatre consultants Charcoal Blue, Graham Lister, the theatre’s development director, production electrician Ian Moulds, acting as a lighting consultant for the venue, and others involved in lighting, particularly those with a connection with Leicester‘s theatres - most notably designer Chris Ellis who has lit many shows at the Haymarket.

“We are delighted to be working with Graham and all of the team at Curve,” comments White Light’s Sales Director, Peter Threadgold. “They have been planning their venue and the equipment to go in to it for a long time; we’ll now make sure that they have everything they need in plenty of time for the building’s opening in the autumn.”
Further information about Leicester’s CURVE can be found at www.curveonline.co.uk.

Photos courtesy of Will Pryce