Avolites proud to support Roundabout - 2015 Theatre Building of the Year

Avolites is delighted to have provided lighting control to Paines Plough’s Roundabout as it wins Theatre Building of the Year at the 2015 Stage Awards. The touring pop-up theatre features lighting controlled via an Avolites Sapphire Touch console running Titan Version 9.  The structure, described as “one of the most exciting new spaces in the country” was praised for its unique portability by the judges. Roundabout shares the honour with The Everyman in Liverpool. 

The Roundabout is one of the first venues to utilise Titan Version 9, having had close involvement with the Avolites team. Lighting designers Emma Chapman and Howard Eaton specified Avolites for the installation, with Howard particularly keen on Titan for its Pixel Mapping ability. Avolites Technical Director, JB Toby and Lead Software Developer, Oliver Waits had close involvement with the Roundabout team, developing software specifically for Paines Plough’s use, as well as providing access to Avolites’ existing control platforms.  “We initially supported Roundabout with an early version of Titan V9 to program the new Howard Eaton Lighting fixtures and stage configuration,” says Toby. “These features are now fully integrated into the software, which will be released in April. ”Titan V9 fully supports RGBW pixel mapping, and also new fixtures with cool and warm white LEDs (WWCW Fixtures), through the use of the colour picker and pixel mapper. It also comes with a whole host of theatre specific functions, including MIDI Show Control, which allows the show to be run by the stage manager using Q-lab.

Expansions to Titan’s tracking now make it possible to track changes forwards and backwards. Cue lists now offer cue-only changes, and you can filter data in cue view to show only relevant information. There are also lots of new theatre syntax shortcuts. Theatre-in-the-round is considered a highly engaging way to stage plays, bringing the audience into the heart of the action. However, there are few suitable venues for this style of performance in the UK.The Roundabout Auditorium is a fully transportable theatre-in-the-round, seating 168 people, which can be 'flat-packed' for deployment in a range of locations, anywhere that can house it, both indoor and outdoor. The travelling auditorium means it can now be experienced anywhere there is space - including village halls, schools, warehouses and parks. The structure was unveiled at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2014 and has since toured the UK with an ensemble of actors, hosting a range of productions and featuring an ensemble of actors.  The newly crowned Theatre Building Of The Year will be back out on tour around the UK in 2015.

Lighting Designer Emma Chapman, Scenic Designer Lucy Osborne, Gavin Green of Charcoalblue and Artistic Director James Grieve picking up the award