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 The
Abbey Theatre's stage and
auditorium can boast an extremely well equipped lighting and sound rig, giving user groups
access to a high quality of technical facilities. Enquiries regarding the NAC and it's
technical facilities may be addressed by e-mail to the Theatre Stage Director,
Tony Deeming.
Lighting
The theatre lighting is controlled by an
ETC Ion, capable of running
any show that comes into the venue, and can handle static and intelligent
(moving) luminaires and LED fixtures with ease.
As back-up to the main lighting desk, we have
retained our old
Strand
300, which
is available for external hire, as is a Strand
200 12/24 desk, ideal for schools and medium scale productions.
The desk powers a mixture of dimmers,
comprising one 24-channel Strand Permus, ten 12-channel
ETC
Smart Racks and four Zero 88 Betapacks (portable 6-way units).
A number of small 4-way portable
dimmer packs are available for feeding specials and other channels as needed.
There is a DMX network fed via two DMX opto-splitters
in the control room which allows either of the two DMX universe feeds from the
desk to be fed around the theatre.
The standard lantern rig comprises mainly
Strand
and
ETC
equipment, details of which can be found
here.
Our Robert Juliat
Marius follow spots were chosen for their ease of use and power to cut through
even the brightest stage lighting rig.
In late 2010, using funds granted by
Warwickshire County Council's BSN (Building Sustainable Neighbourhoods)
department, the Abbey invested in new LED lighting equipment to replace and
compliment the stage rig.
The theatre is investing in more and more
equipment all the time and will update the available kit lists as and when
practical. However, where larger more lavish performances require a more
sophisticated lighting set up, we have a number of options for the hiring in of
a variety of intelligent fixtures such as moving head/moving mirror luminaires,
star cloths and the like. Please ask for details and pricing.
UV can be provided by two 400w UV cannons
and/or up to four 4ft fluorescent fittings. We have 5 strobe units, controllable
from the booth via either DMX or analogue controllers.
Whenever required, the first floor Etone Lounge may be
used as a studio venue, for which there is a portable section of lighting control suited
to the size of room and the technical needs of such events. Control here can be
effected using our smaller DMX desk, a Strand 200, and the smaller Prelude/Parnel range of lanterns,
and operators can easily produce very
satisfactory results.
Sound
Sound control is via an
Allen
& Heath GL3300 32-channel mixing desk, with a mix
 of
mono/stereo inputs feeding master stereo out and 8 sub-group outputs. Inputs can be derived from any one of the 30 direct feeds from stage,
and slave amplification can be installed on stage using the six return lines on the patch
bay.
There are two Tascam MD350
mini-disk players, a Tascam CD160 CD player and a Tascam 202 mk 2 double
cassette deck installed to allow for any playback medium required.
Alternative playback options include a 19" rack mounted iPod dock, and a sound
room PC capable of playing all major audio files using standard players and our
own in-house sound effects package.
Standard vocal pickup is provided by three Crown PCC 160 PZM plate microphones, which
can be augmented by Shure SM58 hand-held/stand mounted mic’s. The output is delivered
via a 31 channel stereo graphic equaliser into a 2 x 500W (and additional
sub-bass) Nexo stereo amplifier feeding top quality Nexo loudspeakers.
Two sets of foldback can also be provided to feed any signal back to performers on
stage via our TOA and/or JBL Control 1 speakers.
The theatre has 11 Sennheiser
EW300 G3 system diversity lapel radio microphones which compliment the system well
for most applications. Three hand held microphones are
available to suit the radio receivers.
All our fully licensed radio systems are now on the Channel 38 band, in
preparation for the digital switchover which will remove access to the old ch
69.
Communication between stage, lighting and sound control
points uses Stonewood/Metro Audio talkback system, and there is an in-house system providing monitor
feeds to bar areas and dressing rooms etc. (The NAC does not at this time run an inductive
loop system). Two effects processors can be patched in as required to provide the usual echo, chorus and reverb etc.
The equipment normally used for foldback can be
used to compliment the lighting rig in the Etone Lounge studio environment,
delivering quality sound reinforcement where required.
Stage
The useable stage area is approx 25 ft wide by 18 ft
deep, with 5 ft wing space either side. Whilst this may sound a little on the small side,
it is always surprising what can be packed into small areas! ‘Good things
come in little packages’, it’s often said! A permanent
addition to the stage is a 16 ft x 4 ft aluminium decking forestage, flanked by
2' 6" wide treads to the auditorium floor, with side thrusts in front of each
proscenium arch, accessible directly from the main stage.
The venue owns an increasing stock of Litedeck
stage decks At present we have three 8 x 4 foot and three 4 x 4 foot pieces plus
one section at 4 x 2 feet. These can be used as low-level dais solutions as well
as being built as an upstage band rail (standard 6' 6" from stage level) to
provide ample room for 10 to 15 musicians during larger shows.
In addition to the main
house curtains, there are two intermediate and one rear tab track, with black tabs on
line 1 and blacks on line 3 as standard. There are three cloth barrels, tied off on the
raised fly tower, although, regrettably, as there is little space above stage, only rolled
cloths can be flown. As standard, we have a white cyc on the rear-most barrel. The Stage Manager’s corner is equipped with talkback position
(as are the DSR, USR, USL and fly positions).
The theatre has
Jem
ZR12 DMX, Martin Magnum 800 and Magnum 550 smoke machines and a
Le Maitre MVS professional haze machine.
There is an in-house pyrotechnics system
utilising professional standard Le Maitre pyro effects. Note that users will be
permitted to use pyrotechnics ONLY if approved by the theatre management, and
all intended use of pyro MUST be advised in detail in advance.
The theatre is equipped with a network of video
link cables, fed to a video distribution amplifier in the control room, which
can patch cameras, projectors and screens in most useable positions. As a
compliment to the distribution network, we now have three 1200 to 1500 ansi-lumens
LCD projectors, and a 10 foot wide motorised projection screen available for use at a small cost to users. (Other projectors
also available if required, on request)
We have a live video link from the camera
viewing the stage which can be sent to the stage manager's corner and also to
the foyer bar screens if required. If required, we can also set up a live video
feed from the concealed band rail to send MD pictures to a front of house screen
for use by the performers.
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