South Africa - Johannesburg-based theatrical lighting rental specialist Splitbeam – part of the Gearhouse South Africa Group – has invested in new Robe Esprite Fresnels and Tetra2 moving lights to help service its busy, vibrant, and varied client base.
The 48 x Esprites were purchased with the HCF (High Colour Fidelity) LED engines installed and Splitbeam simultaneously bought the HP (High Power) Transferable Engines to have handy for swapping these out according to the show’s requirements, together with a set of PC lenses to offer a choice of Esprite Fresnel or PC.
The company is strongly ‘brand-agnostic’ explained managing director, Alistair Kilbee, so the investment was based on customer demands – lighting designer requests and technical rider specifications:
“These are the fixtures that people are asking for right now, so we need them onboard to ensure we can offer the very best service and standards.”
The new Robe products have been used on several high-profile productions including My Fair Lady with lighting designed by Denis Hutchinson which recently played at Teatro Montecasino in Johannesburg, Dear Evan Hansen staged at Artscape in Cape Town with lighting by Niall Griffin and Magic Box which is currently touring, including a run at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena in February, where LD David Seldes utilised 36 x Tetra2s.
In addition to being requested frequently, the new Robe luminaires are part of an ongoing investment process designed to keep the best and most appropriate technologies and innovations available. “We are all about providing the correct specifications for each individual production,” confirms Splitbeam’s head of lighting, Mat Lewis.
The flexibility and value of Robe’s TE fixtures for a theatrically orientated rental operation is clearly a benefit for Splitbeam, and this was a major deciding factor in choosing the Esprite Fresnels, after looking at and testing several options.
The lights were supplied by Robe’s South African distributor, DWR. Their account manager Kevin Stannett suggested that Splitbeam looked at the Esprite Fresnel when he learned that Alistair and Mat were on the hunt for theatrical grade wash fixtures.
The Tetras2s – 22 x Tetra2s and 22 x iTetra2s – are being used on all three of the productions mentioned above - and they were picked for being adaptable and multifunctional.
On Dear Evan Hansen, Tetra2s were used on a circular truss to create a wall of light above the stage and became central to the show, effectively part of the set as well as integral to the lighting design.
Tetra2s are also a solution to get a lot of light sources into the often space-challenged lighting grids and fly bar systems which are common in South Africa.
Apart from looking great in theatre shows, both these two fixture types can also be used for television and broadcast work or film and cinematic applications.
