White Light Goes on Tour with Poet in da Corner
White
Light has supplied the lighting equipment for the UK tour of Poet in da
Corner, following its critically-acclaimed run at the Royal Court Theatre.
Poet in
da Corner is a coming
of age story inspired by Dizzee Rascal’s seminal album Boy in Da Corner.
Written and performed by lyricist and poet Debris Stevenson, it originally ran
at the Royal Court in 2018. This latest tour is a brand-new production,
directed by Ola Ince and featuring a lighting design by Anna Watson. Anna
comments: “Poet in da Corner is a really original and unique story told
primarily through grime music. With this in mind, I always knew that the
lighting would have to work hard in order to match the show’s epic, fast-paced
soundtrack. I wanted my design to support the story and music as well as
capture the grime rave aesthetic. I also had to work alongside the set design
by Jacob Hughes which is a beautifully simple layout of yellow portals on truss
along with a high shine floor with a revolve. As a creative team, we set
ourselves one objective: to help create an unforgettable gig theatre vibe!”.
With the
creative team working so holistically, Anna ensured that she attended as many
rehearsals as possible. She explains: “I always try to attend rehearsals but it
was particularly important with this show as it really helped me get inside the
music and be familiar with the choreography which really drives the piece. It
also allows us to add extremely detailed cueing to the book whilst still in the
rehearsal room, which ultimately helped ease our move into the theatre”.
Knowing
what equipment she needed for her design, Anna approached WL’s Hire team. In
terms of her fixture choices, she explains: “Overhead, we had 9 metres of GLP
Impression X4 Bar 20s and 9 x Martin MAC Aura XBs. The X4 Bars were the
lighting stars of the show. This was my first opportunity to really test these
units and they did not disappoint. Visible to the audience, we used them for a
huge variety of effects and atmospheric lighting. With incredible programming
from Stephen Settle, they filled or dissected the space with beautiful accuracy
and detail. The Aura XBs also worked hard as moving beams through haze or
acting as specials to light the performers.
She
continues: “On the booms, we had ETC ColorSource PARs, ColorSource Profiles and
PAR 64s, with birdies used as footlights. We used 30 x RGBW LED fluorescents
upstage mainly behind a black BP screen, which gave them a slightly ghostly or
projected feel as they chased along or flickered to beats of the music. These
were only actually then revealed for one track which is set in a club but we
ensured they were shown off in their full glory. We used old school asymmetric
floods as audience blinders”.
As the
show was also visiting a range of venues across the UK, this is something that
Anna had to factor into her design. She comments: “As the show is touring to a
wide variety of venues (from medium size studios to Hackney Empire), couple
with the tight turnaround time at each, we wanted to reduce the variables as
much as possible, so made the decision to tour everything. Fortunately, with a
great deal of support from WL and GLP, we were able to put together a rig that
could feel big enough and flexible enough to support this bold, fast-paced and
beautifully loud show. The overhead kit is rigged on three freestanding truss
structures plus a metal frame at the front of the stage. The rig was always
going to have to work hard and, with a fairly simple set, it was down to the
lighting to capture the grime rave feel; something we feel we achieved”.
Poet in
da Corner opened at
the Royal Court Theatre and is now embarking on its UK tour, visiting The MAC,
Belfast later this week.
Anna concludes: “As always, I was very well looked after by the Royal Court team, with huge support by Johnny Wilson and the lighting team. Also a big thanks to WL for once again supplying me with the fixtures I needed”.