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Reproduced from the
November 2007 issue of
Lighting&Sound International - http://www.lsionline.co.uk/digital/
Silver
lining for the Wyvern Theatre
From the outside, Swindon's Wyvern theatre is
clearly not the most glamorous theatre building in
Britain. Typical of the late 1960s and early 70s
utilitarian architecture. All the same . . . as the
old adage goes, don't judge a book by its cover.
Despite the above description, and the fact that
the town is looking to build a brand new,
state-of-the-art, venue, Swindon Borough Council
last year saw fit to give the Wyvern Theatre a
£1.3 million refurbishment of its auditorium.
Andrew Hill, director of the theatre, elaborates:
"Initially we thought we would only be shut down
for a short period of time so we tried to keep our
programme of shows going. We built a temporary
theatre in a local sports hall and relocated all
our shows there. However, it soon became apparent
that the shut down would go on longer than
originally expected and relocating shows would
become unsustainable. Ultimately, we had to offer
most of our staff redundancy. However, on the
positive side, Swindon Borough Council agreed that
it would be more expedient to upgrade much of our
technical equipment and infrastructure, whilst the
rest of the auditorium was being gutted."
To that end,
Swindon Borough Council contracted the services of
a long-term supplier to the Wyvern, Stage
Electrics. The company designed, installed and
supplied the entire technical infrastructure and
new equipment for the venue.
Simon Kenning,
business development manager for Stage Electrics,
says: "The brief was to ensure that the scheme be
as cost-effective as possible for the client,
whilst improving and supporting the theatre's
diverse and multifunctional role. Budget-wise this
was a challenge. Whilst the overall budget for the
refurbishment was £1.3 million, the lighting,
sound, communications and cinema package only
accounted for 25% of that."
Stage Electrics
worked in close association with architects Peter
Case, Mark Rose and Steve Nicholls of Technical
Services Group, and Swindon Commercial Services at
Swindon Borough Council.
As with much
regional theatre, tight budgets and limited
resources means the building has to be as flexible
as possible in its offering: to that end, the
Wyvern Theatre is not just a theatre. It's a
cinema, a live music venue, a comedy club and
anything else anyone might care to mention or need
it to be - it has to be to stay in business.
Stage Electrics
maximized this flexibility by specifying and
installing Ethernet communications for both the
sound and lighting networked systems. Kenning
explains: "The Wyvern is one of the first venues in
the UK to integrate the Roland Digital Sound snake
as a fully installed system"
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View from the stage
Wyvern Cafe
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Further expanding
the flexibility of the system, Stage Electrics
specified an RCF PA system, which comprises a
central cluster of four Acustica C5212L 500W
mid/high cabinets, and left and right hangs of two
Acustica C5212L 500W mid/high cabinets a side, each
with an Acustica S8028 subwoofer below. There are
also four Acustica C5212W 500W mid/high speakers
for delay in the auditorium.
Kenning says: "RCF
produce a fantastic product in the Acustica series.
The cabinets can easily cope with all formats of
show, which The Wyvern has to manage on a weekly
basis. The versatility of the cabinet ensures a
crisp and clean sound, whatever the requirement and
application."
Kenning worked in
close association with Greg Oliver at RCF UK to
design the optimum audio solution, taking into
account the wide range of audio demands of the
theatre and the budget. Everything from spoken
voice to live music, playback to musicals - each
has different demands and in isolation each will
use a different kind of PA system set up in a
particular way. All paging FOH and back stage is
run from an RCF system, control of which is
integrated in the stage manager's desk
(manufactured by Stage Electrics) and various other
sites around the building.
Kenning says: "RCF
is one of only a few loudspeaker manufacturers
worldwide which completely manufactures
transducers, speaker systems and amplification and
control electronics. There is a lot of black box
product around these days; sadly most of them are
still bits-in-a-box packages containing
off-the-shelf drivers in a ply box. RCF's Acustica
product range is designed and built by RCF, from
the drivers to the rigging options, to be part of a
complete installation solution."
Greg Oliver,
technical sales consultant for RCF elaborates:
"Simon contacted me with a brief for a multiple-use
sound system, which covered panto to touring bands
and everything in between. After the initial site
visit it was clear that we needed a fairly compact
system that would fit above the new Slingco
CableNet grid in the roof. The Acustica series was
chosen as it allows for easy installation but also
can achieve the SPL levels required for the venue's
multifarious uses. Once Stage Electrics had
installed them, I spent a day with Simon at the
theatre testing the system and setting up the
delays, and with very little room equalisation
necessary, the system was ready for use."
The control
interface of this digital sound system is a Yamaha
M7CL48K console.
© Lighting&Sound International / PLASA
Media Ltd 2007
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Speakers
8 x Acustica C5212-L
4 x Acustica C5215-W
2 x Acustica S8028 Subwoofer
Amplifiers
5 x HC2000
4 x HC3200
Processor
1 x DX4008
The show relay system comprises:
2 x PR4092 1U rack mount mixers
1 x PD1066 Zone switcher with 5 x BM3067
microphones.
1 x SA2095 Rack control unit
1 x Flexa modular amplifier system made up of
1 x MF6000 Frame, 1 x PS6640 PSU, 3 x UP6241
Amplifier.
1 x MS1033 Single CD-Tuner and USB MP3 player.
Configured to allow show relay feeds to dressing
rooms, BGM to foyer, and 2 zone paging to front of
house and dressing rooms.
PL80's in the foyer area
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