Acclaimed Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan Comes Alive at Night With Dramatic Lighting
The Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan (SOTS) theatre festival now features one of the most dramatic exterior lighting schemes on the Saskatchewan River thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Titan Electrical Group, Christie Lites Sales and Acclaim Lighting. SOTS is a not-for-profit theatre company that has been providing theatrical productions of Shakespeare’s timeless plays right on the Saskatoon riverbank for many years.
A strategic vision to expand the existing SOTS site to provide a permanent four-season home for the company was created, as out of festival season the theatrical equipment and tent skin are removed, making the amphitheater visible from across the river. Both the University of Saskatchewan campus and Jim Patteson Children’s Hospital have a direct view of the site. In line with this vision, a schematic plan was developed by the consulting team and the Titan Electrical Group in conjunction with Christie Lites Sales to add dramatic lighting and precision controls to the new site. The schematic specifies color-changing lighting around the larger trees, as well as the pathways leading to the amphitheater. Animated gobo projectors display sponsor logos as well as Shakespearean images and quotes.
To color wash the large trees, the team specified Acclaim Lighting’s Dyna Drum SO Color with its integrated Aria wireless DMX receiver. The Aria technology was a key specifying component for its reliability and industry leading point to point transmission range of up to 2600’. The Drum SO was the ideal choice for the application due to the fixture’s ability to cast light further and dramatically illuminate dark, irregular surfaces, such as foliage. Other noteworthy features include an integrated photocell, power failure memory & Quad Color Source that can be specified with a 3,4 or 6000 Kelvin white which is a preferred feature by theatrical technicians in their demanding environments.
Krysten Ernst from the Titan Electrical Group said, “We chose the QS (3000K)-version because it provides richer looking color and prevents a Lite Brite appearance when viewing the fixture face. This is the result of it being able to provide red, green, blue, and 3000 Kelvin white pre-mixed within the fixture. In addition, the Dyna Drum’s lens options are field changeable, which is important if future tree growth necessitates a change in direction.”
The Dyna Drum EO Color was also a natural choice for the pathway lighting because its OLED menu (standard on full Dyna Drum Series) is intuitive and familiar to theatrical lighting technicians. Among other features, the menu allows “at-fixture” address changes and basic diagnostics—all without the need for special tools or external processors. In addition, password protection eliminates the risk of unauthorized changes.
With an aperture of only 5.71” (145mm), the Dyna Drum EO is unobtrusive on the lighting poles. The built-in wireless Aria DMX receiver allows every location to receive DMX wirelessly without the need to run control wire & conduit which also eliminates the need for costly underground trenching and data distribution. The Dyna Drum EO’s also acted as a wireless hub and then passed a hardwire data line out to other 3rd party DMX enabled luminaires on the poles, eliminating the need to install additional receivers around the site.
A Colorful, Yet Practical Solution
The most noteworthy feature of the SOTS site is the new permanent amphitheater which consists of large precast concrete segments. The project team had to coordinate with the precast manufacturer to integrate color-changing LED tape light into each riser segment. Flex Spectrum Exterior (RGBW) from Acclaim Lighting was specified for the amphitheater riser lights. The lighting covers 58 sections totaling nearly 480’ of 24v tape with a FLX777 recessed channel using an opal lens.
Driven on ALD-800-24 power supply/interfaces that allow for individual DMX control of up to 10 outputs of RGBW, Flex Spectrum is a specification-grade tape that is fully IP68 rated for wet locations. It has excellent lumen output with a 3000 Kelvin white chip. The original design included per-riser control of the lights, however the client requested additional home runs to be added so that each riser of the amphitheater within each of the four main segments could be individually controlled.
“It was our intention to use factory leads for every section of Flex Spectrum to help minimize time and labor on site,” said Ernst. “There will be several off-cuts of 1m to 2m in length, and those can be used as spares or given to the lighting department at Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan to incorporate as set lighting for their shows.”
There were a number of practical considerations in the selection of the lighting, since it is mounted in a public, easily vandalized area. “We chose the FLX777 four-inch recessed channel to house the ribbon light, as it is more difficult for vandals to pull the lensing out,” said Ernst. “The lensing is flat and slides in from the end of the channel. If the small edge is still too tempting to a determined vandal, a decorative cap can be fabricated to cover the visible end of the lens. In addition, the lensing is very economical both from a cost and storage space perspective.”
Additional lighting was mounted into the steps for egress illumination. These lights are dimmable and part of the control system. Given the low height (~6 inches) of the steps, the 88-lumen foot output of the Flex Eco Exterior 3000K from Acclaim Lighting provides the desired light output. Due to the low power-draw and single-color application, 12 steps were wired together per run. This made each of the three sets of stair lights operable in the upper and lower halves, allowing for some additional theatrical interaction.
In addition, the team specified Acclaim Flex Tube SC 3000K for the curved terrace wall by the river bank based on its soft light diffusion. This comfortable low-output light provides an attractive accent (110lm/ft) on the curved surface.
Now that the lights are on, the show must go on!
THE DESIGNER
Jeremy R. Hall, P.Eng, is managing principal and senior design engineer for PWA Engineering in Saskatoon, Canada.
