Kampnagel Theatre invests in Robe T1 Profiles

left to right: Doria Worden, education specialist; Holger Schegum (Lighting Designer at Kampnagel) and Christian Eimann (lighting programmer, systems tech and lighting network specialist)

Hamburg’s world‐renowned Kampnagel is Germany's biggest independent international production venue for the performing arts. Based in a former crane engineering factory in the lively Winterhude district of Hamburg, this charismatic space has been reinvented by Kampnagel as a buzzing multi‐venue creative and cultural hub.

This year, Kampnagel has invested in Robe T1 Profile LED moving lights which will be used as required across their six main performance spaces. The T1s were selected after careful consideration, a shootout with some competitor products and a strong recommendation by Freddy Niß from lighting design and technical consultancy, FredUp e.K.

Kampnagel whose current artistic director is Amelie Deuflhard, approached Freddy to advise on the best choice of a contemporary moving light. They had a specific budget and ideally wanted 10 fixtures that were flexible enough to work across all performance genres and satisfy their diverse needs and range of lighting specs received from incoming productions. Before the T1s, they had used 10 discharge moving wash lights (from another manufacturer), and the initial idea was to purchase a similar but more modern fixture with equal or increased brightness.

Freddy Niß (left) with Michael Lentner

Colour mixing was crucial. “The detail and finesse of the T1 made it a clear winner compared to any other fixtures in the frame, and this became especially clear during the physical shootouts,” said Freddy. All this, combined with the fine‐tuned dimming and super‐accurate framing shutters convinced all at Kampnagel that the T1 Profile was for them. FredUp delivered the new luminaries.

They were used extensively throughout August on selected productions for Hamburg’s 2021 Internationales Sommerfestival (International Summer Festival) which is a major part in Kampnagel’s annual season and takes place every August both inside and outside the factory building as well as in other places in Hamburg.

During this time, the theatre was visited by multiple lighting designers working on different individual productions, with all the various lighting designs overseen by the festival’s overall head of lighting, Michael Lentner, who was very enthusiastic about the arrival of the T1 Profiles, used mainly in K6, Kampnagel’s largest venue with 850 seats. Dennis Döscher, Kampnagel’s head of lighting commented, “We are really happy! For theatre use, the T1 is the best LED moving light we’ve ever used at Kampnagel to date!"

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