UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians' annual showcase - the ABTT Theatre Show, to be staged in London's Royal Horticultural Halls on 16 -17 June this year, is set to be bigger than ever, say the organizers. By encouraging new exhibitors from areas such as PA/VA, video and building services, alongside those from the more familiar lighting, rigging and audio sectors, the show has broadened its appeal and is already 95% sold out. Among the exhibitors will be VLPS Lighting Services, showing the new Virtuoso EX1 Media Server which brings a whole new dynamic to digital lighting by using a moving perspective camera and four-point lighting in a virtual 3D environment.

ETC will exhibit a selection of its lighting, control and dimming product such as The Source Four Revolution, which has already won the Best Debuting Product/Promising Prototype Award at LDI 2003. Also on show will be ETC's new CEM+ (Control Electronics Module and the new RRFU (Radio Remote Focus Unit).

Fourth Phase London will be on hand to answer any technical queries ranging from how to project an image onto a building to the supply of an entire lighting rig. Avolites is showing two new products - eDMX and the ART2000S (stand alone) dimmer module - plus its range of ART2000i installation dimmers and lighting control consoles. James Thomas Engineering will highlight the new weatherized architectural versions of its innovative Pixel LED range. The full Pixel entertainment industry range will also be on show, plus JTE's PixelDrive control software.

Rigging companies present at this year's show include PCM who will be showing the new reduced-noise version of its award winning Unibar - which was launched at last year's show - with the Unibar motor now housed in a soundproofed box. One of Europe's leading manufacturers of custom aluminium structures, truss and staging systems - LiteStructures will also be present with the industry standard LiteDeck plus ChromaDeck, the company's colour changing modular flooring system.

Since winning the ABTT Product of the Year award for the third time at last year's show, Triple E is back with demonstrations of its extensive product range including its variable acoustic systems and Chaintrack plus the Unibeam with Chain drive - designed specifically to replace a helical-drum hauling system to provide motorized operations for both curtains and scenery when space is limited. After their first full year back as an independent business, Hall Stage will be showing new products to support their existing ranges, including steel band and chainhoists from their German partners, ASM Steuerungstechnik GmbH. Their first joint venture is a counterweight drive system - the DGS, a retro-fit hoist which powers existing counterweight installations.

Theatrical video experts XL Video will also be at the 2004 ABTT Show in the Lindley Hall, the first video company to exhibit there. XL will be demonstrating a variety of methods in which video can integrate with other technical production elements for theatre, and show a selection of projectors and playback devices.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)


Latest Issue. . .