Although normally a concert platform, with no proscenium arch or flying grid, the RFH does host traditional theatre, including recent productions of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake by Russia's Stanislavski Ballet. Typically, rigging contractors are brought in to transform the hall into a working proscenium arch theatre, with a flying grid and track system for moving scenery and lighting during performances.
However, ELP's MD Ronan Willson, AutoCAD specialist Tim Williamson and project manager Toby Dare came up with a unique approach which eliminated most of the problems encountered by previous systems.
A Supertruss structure, interlaced with a series of aluminium 'I' beams, increased the height the grid could fly to by a valuable six inches. "The 'I' beams provide almost infinite variability of bar configuration," says Dare. "We didn't have all of the weight information we needed from Moscow, so we had to design a cover-all system which could cope with anything."
The RFH is Grade 1 listed, so no permanent fixings could be made to the building; therefore all counterweight lines and cleat rail fixings had to be weighted down via a specially-designed fly rail. ELP used their compact iron ore ballast units to provide weight, without wasting valuable space. The 24m wide by 12m deep grid supported nearly 500m of tab track bought for the occasion. A unique, quick-hanging coupler system was designed to make the hanging and adjustment of the system as easy as possible, and 11 hemp line lifting bars were also installed: three of these became motor assist bars when the full weight of the ballet's set pieces became known. ELP also provided the black drape and tabs needed to create the all-important proscenium arch, along with the black legs and borders and a raft of masking drape, to ensure the magic of theatre wasn't betrayed by glimpses of fly rails or truss.
The ELP theatre grid system offers a number of advantages: it has a shallower profile, uninterrupted fixings and offers a continuous slide mechanism. It eliminates the need for a fly tower, is quick to install and easy to de-rig, as well as being highly flexible and adaptable to any venue or style of production. Having a pre-production period in its own studio space at Millennium Studios, Elstree, also helped to make on-site installation of the grid a more efficient process, said Dare.
While working on the project, ELP was also approached to dry hire lighting and effects: production manager John Singer took over this side of the job and provided all dimmers, cable, Source Four profiles, Pars, ColoRam scrollers, moving lights, followspots and snow-effect projectors. In addition to lighting, ELP also supplied eight snow machines to help create the appropriate setting.
