A range of Claypaky moving head fixtures created the responsive theatrical lighting for immersive Chinese theatre production ‘Encore Dunhuang’, a unique ‘walk-in’ theatre show that debuted at the first Silk Road Dunhuang International Cultural Expo.
The event’s theatrical lighting design was created by lighting designer Mr Wang Yugang, who specified the Claypaky Scenius Profile 1400s, Claypaky Alpha Profile 1200s and Claypaky Sharpy Washes to meet the demands and the scale of the production. Mr Wang Yugang singled out the Scenius Profile specifically for superior colour rendering.
“In the flying scenes, I chose to base the look around the Scenius Profile,” says Mr Wang Yugang. “The colour reproduction on clothing and characters is extremely good, and the consistency of light is far more than the other brands of lamps and lanterns available.”
The 90-minute performance guided audience members on a journey through time, providing them with an immersive experience of some of the key events and characters from the 2,000-year history of the city of Dunhuang, once a key trading point on the historic Silk Road.
“An Encore theatre is different from a standard theatre,” explained Mr Wang Yugang. “Depending on the needs of the scene, it is built to be a flexible space that meets all the regular theatre construction specifications, whilst being configurable to realise each individual scene.”
One of the main challenges was in lighting the vast, 1000 square meter performance space, which is divided into four zones and through which the audience walk. It was a task which required well-planned equipment selection and lamp positioning. “I need to design for many different scenarios, which increases the difficulty of the lighting design process,” says Mr Wang Yugang.
The fixtures, supplied by Claypaky’s Chinese distributor, ACE, played an important role in Mr Wang Yugang’s delivery of the design, bringing a number of qualities which Mr Wang Yugang utilised to his advantage.
“Clay Paky is very reliable,” says Mr Yugang. “Especially the powerful light output of lamps and lanterns, and their consistency is commendable.”