Schaffelaar Theatre PAINTES the town

Schaffelaar Theatre in Barneveld, The Netherlands, is a popular and busy receiving house with a constant flow of shows – musicals, dance, cabaret, comedy and concerts of all types – serving the local community with a lively programme of arts and culture.

There is a 572-capacity large hall and a small hall accommodating 198 people, and recently, there has been a serious investment in Robe moving lights.

The purchase, delivered by Robe’s Benelux distributor Controllux, has so far comprised 8 x PAINTES, 12 x LEDBeam 350 RGBA FWs – with soft focus for the pastel ranges – 6 x T11 Profile multispectral units and 5 x TX1 PosiProfiles.

The PAINTES were the first to be installed in a theatre in the Netherlands!

These have now been integrated into the large hall house lighting rig by Head of Theatre Technology Djordi Veerman and lighting tech Timo van Dusschoten. “It’s always nice to be part of a ‘first’ like that,” quips Djordi.

A lighting upgrade was needed as the previous fixtures were 15 years old and had been in use since the venue opened, and they were already second hand then! Apart from that, it was time to start transitioning to LED, so Djordi put together a 7-stage realisation plan, of which Phase 1 dealt with everything above the stage.

The Robe TX1s were the first part of this, followed shortly by the others.

When discussing ‘why Robe’, Djordi comments that he’s seen many fixtures during his time there at Schaffelaar Theatre and working at various other venues over the last 10 years, and one thing he definitely wanted was the continuity of having only one brand in the house to cover all the moving light requirements.

Taking more generally about their impressions of Robe as a brand, Djordi and Timo both think the manufacturer is “on its game and several steps ahead of the rest” in terms of innovation and technology. A good relationship with Controllux and their well-known after- sales support is another must.

“With Controllux, there is someone at the end of the phone 24 hours … and they will always find a solution. Good support is vital in our industry,” says Djordi. The account is looked after at Controllux by account manager Maikel Sakkers.

Eighty per cent of Schaffelaar Theatre’s incoming shows will have their own lighting designer or operator - and they have had some great reactions from these to the new Robe kit. Productions without their own lighting person, together with the majority of the business events, will be lit by Djordi, Timo and the team.

www.robe.cz

Photography © Louise Stickland