Lighthouse Capital Project News - October 2015

CAPITAL PROJECT NEWS

OCTOBER 15

LOVE LIGHTHOUSE APPEAL LAUNCH PLUS CONCERT HALL SOUNDS PERFECT

www.lighthousepoole.co.uk

National profile; local heart It has been a genuine honour and a rare privilege to welcome Josie Rourke, one of British theatre’s most dynamic artistic talents to our venue for the launch of the Love Lighthouse appeal. For a leading figure in the national theatre establishment to so eloquently endorse what we are achieving here is enormously satisfying and can only help focus attention on our work.

However, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Lighthouse is a nationally important cultural provider. We are

enormously proud to have Poole in our hearts and are humbled by the support of our audiences, but our outlook reaches far beyond the borough confines.

That is why we want to secure the future of Lighthouse as a first-rate venue worthy of the amazing artists that come here from all over the world, as well as our fantastic audiences, some of which travel from far and wide, not to mention our community groups, schools, amateur companies and business users.

The enthusiastic support of Josie Rourke and others like her makes our hearts sing, but no more than that of our audiences, staff and volunteers who are all part of this iconic space called Lighthouse.

Elspeth McBain, Chief Executive, Lighthouse

LAUNCH OF PUBLIC APPEAL IS ‘HUGELY EXCITING’ Art that is from and for the place in which it is made is every bit as exciting and crucial as work being made and seen in London.

That was the message as Josie Rourke, artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, helped launch the Love Lighthouse public appeal to raise the final £400,000 needed to complete our desperately needed refresh.

Introducing an encore screening of the National Theatre Live presentation of her production of Coriolanus starring Tom Hiddleston, Deborah Findlay and Mark Gatiss, she made a heartfelt speech about the value of Lighthouse as a regional arts venue and acknowledged how valuable it also is for everyone involved that work made at venues such as the Donmar Warehouse has a life and reach beyond the capital.

“It has a lot of meaning for me and I’m enormously honoured to be here tonight at the launch of the public part of the appeal,” she said. “To have raised £5 million so far and to only have another £400,000 to go is hugely exciting and a little bit scary. The way to get there is with lots and lots of small donations from people that really care.

“If you can give 10p or £10,000 it will make a difference and be just as welcome.”

In a warmly received and illuminating preface to Coriolanus Josie touched on the part played by live screenings in arts venues such as Lighthouse, not as a substitute for live theatre, but as a different way of experiencing theatre that reaches out to new audiences.

‘When I grew up in Salford it didn’t have a theatre so if there had been NT Live screenings I would have absolutely devoured them. Screenings like this cannot replace live theatre, but digital technology can bring the theatre to audiences in a way that allows them to see it differently.”

After fielding a series of searching questions from the audience, as a special surprise just before the screening Josie played a short message from Tom Hiddleston she had recorded that morning on her phone in which the star of films such as War Horse and The Avengers, as well as the forthcoming High-Rise, charmingly thanked the audience for supporting Lighthouse.

A better place to be The million-pound technical refit will make Lighthouse a much better place to be for performers and audiences alike with major improvements to the sound and lighting in the Concert Hall, Theatre, Studio and Function Rooms.

As well as the mechanical overhaul of the Concert Hall’s unique lifting floor system, the refit includes a new PA system and digital desk, improved lighting and new trussing to make the space more flexible in terms of how it can be configured, allowing it to be used for more theatrical presentations, even shows in the round. The stage has also been resurfaced.

“For the first time intelligent moving lights will be available, which will make a huge difference to how shows look,” says Lighthouse Technical Manager Jake Sutton. “We’re also replenishing our traditional lighting stock, some of which has been in use since the building opened nearly 40 years ago.”

The Theatre will be further improved with a new onstage dance floor, new amplifiers and resurfaced stage.

“The Studio will see the biggest change and is effectively a new installation with new seating, a control room, HD projector and screen, new PA and lighting all designed to make it a far more flexible space,” adds Jake.

On the first floor a new Function Room will be created and all three rooms will have independent PA systems and wireless presentation screens, but will also be linkable as a single space or zoned with video monitors.

The infrared induction loop coverage for hearing impaired audiences is to be improved in all performance spaces and CCTV coverage of the building is to be extended inside and out. Backstage a multi-programme expandable video relay system will be installed.

“Improving our technical capabilities has an obvious benefit to the quality of presentation of the work we show here, at all levels,” says Lighthouse Chief Executive Elspeth McBain. “I am constantly amazed by how good our amateur companies are, they have a real edge and part of that is because they are able to work with the support of professional theatre technicians. That in turn nurtures an interest in the theatre, which leads to people embarking on careers in the arts.”

Sounds amazing!

With its new state of the art sound system the Concert Hall is among the best-equipped venues in the country.

Installed by Christchurch-based CPS Group, the D&B Audiotechnik Y-series system offers almost limitless possibilities whether the Concert Hall is configured in flat floor mode or as a seated venue. It has already undergone active road testing at the Wedding Fare and Venus Awards, passing with flying colours.

“The electric trio that played at the Venus Awards were amazed at the quality of the sound – the best they’d ever used,” says Lighthouse Technical Manager Jake Sutton.

“It’s no surprise really, sound systems don’t get a lot better than this system and it had a good technical run through

CONCERT HALL PA SYSTEM SPECIFICATION D&B Y series fixed flown Line array consisting of: • 12x D&B Y8 and 4x D&B Y12 array loudspeaker ( 8 cabs per side) • 4x D&B V SUB subwoofer (2 cabs per side) • 8x D&B E8 loudspeaker (Front Fills) • 8x D&B MAX 12” stage monitors • 3x 30D and 2x 10D D&B installation amplifiers • 1x DIGICO S21 24 input/ 12 output Digital Mixing console

at the Venus Awards with the band, two presenters with microphones, sound stings and videos.”

The system now offers pre-set options for flat floor and seated layouts, although its capacity for bespoke modifications is boundless and Jake and his team are looking forward to exploring how to get even more out of the system.

“This was a major undertaking – it took two electricians three days just to install the wiring infrastructure for the system. The whole installation took about two weeks in total and we have a brand new DiGiCo digital soundboard due to arrive this month – the model hasn’t even been released yet so Lighthouse will be one of the first venues to receive it.”

Why I Love Lighthouse

We run street dance classes for adults and youngsters every Thursday. It’s mostly for fun, but dancers can apply to join a dance crew and concentrate more on performance and shows so there is some progression.

The thing with street dance is it attracts boys so come of our classes have more boys than girls. It removes the stigma about boys dancing, which can only be a good thing. I know from my own kids that youngsters involved with dance have always got something to think about, they’ve got a focus because there’s always a show or a performance so they’re not bored and when they’re not bored they don’t have to go and hang around and get in trouble.

Stella Mavris, Dance 4 All

Our Appeal If there’s one thing that readers of this newsletter have in common it’s that we all Love Lighthouse.

As a cornerstone of life in Poole, Lighthouse helps define the town both to itself and to the world beyond.

For some people it may be the sole reason to visit the conurbation; for many more though Lighthouse and what goes on here are central to their understanding of Poole and what it has to offer.

More than four million people have passed through the building since its refurbishment in 2002 and it’s in urgent need of a refresh. Wherever you look there are signs of wear and tear; many of the facilities and much of the technical infrastructure is out of date.

If we are to continue to attract the very best artists to our iconic building – which is at least part of the reason it was built in the first place – and continue to provide a first-rate experience for everyone who uses the building whether in an audience, as a performer, or with any of the other groups that use the building regularly, we need to act now.

A lot of the preparatory work and technical refitting was carried out during our summer break, some of it as a matter of urgency, so we are ready for the transformative phase that lies ahead.

More than 90 per cent of the cost of this much-needed refresh has been raised already, but now we need the help of everyone to make up the final £400,000 to finish the job properly.

Our audiences are already responding magnificently to the invitation to make a small donation at the box office when they buy their tickets and special events such as the visit of Josie Rourke are a telling reminder of the importance of Lighthouse to the wider arts world.

This is our chance to show how much Lighthouse means to us and by supporting the Love Lighthouse appeal we can all play a vital part in the future of our venue – whether we have pennies, pounds or thousands of pounds to contribute.

If you’d like to show you Love Lighthouse please get involved at:

lovelighthouse.co.uk

8

october launch

£400k appeal target

Please get involved By making a donation you can play an important part in ensuring Lighthouse remains a world class venue right here in Poole.

ONLINE

lovelighthouse.co.uk PHONE

01202 781306 SEND A TEXT MESSAGE

LIGH12 £5 to 70070