The Netherlands - The Schouwburg Kunstmin in Dordrecht is a busy, bustling theatre and performing arts venue, which has made another major purchase of Robe LED lighting fixtures with 83 x T11 Profiles. These have been added to their Main Hall house lighting rig, replacing all the old, fixed position incandescent profiles and PCs.
The venue is both a producing and a receiving house, and in the Main Hall, the busy and vibrant programme of performance – embracing musicals, dance shows, cabaret, comedy, and concerts – can be lit with an all-Robe and fully LED lighting rig and investment funded entirely by the theatre itself.
Simultaneously, the venue purchased 12 x Robe ParFect 150s to replace their conventional PARS, another four T1 profiles – bringing the current total to 12 when combined with others bought in 2022 to replace their ageing 2Ks on the FOH bridge with an LED source. Eight Robe TX1 PosiProfiles also joined the inventory positioned on the front bridge.
And there was more, explained Kunstmin head of technical, Bart Meester, who is delighted with having all the new tech at his fingertips. LEDBeam 350s were purchased for the portal bridge, plus 14 x Tetra2s to light the cyc and more LEDBeam 150s to add to their existing stock, all also for the large hall.
It was previously good experiences with the products and Robe’s Benelux distributor, Controllux, that led them back to the brand, with the sale managed by Controllux’s Kuno van Velzen.
In the meantime, van Velzen arranged a Robe factory visit for Meester and some of the Kunstmin crew, who were suitably impressed with the facilities and setup in the Czech Republic, and the fact that the products are manufactured in Europe.
Approximately 90% of the incoming productions use the house rig, so there are plenty of happy lighting designers, directors and operators out there relishing the chance to work with their lighting, notes Meester. They can facilitate programming old or contemporary style with colour mixing or dimming and are completely flexible with a choice of FOH consoles.