Det Norske Teatret Tops Up with Robe ESPRITES

	Sukker at Det Norske Teatret. Photo: Ole Herman Andersen, courtesy Det Norske Teatret

Det Norske Teatret, in Oslo, Norway, has topped up its quantities of Robe ESPRITE moving lights for its 250-capacity flexible Scene 2 performance space, with the purchase of 11 ESPRITE Profiles, which join the 15 ESPRITE PCs acquired in 2022.

The profiles are replacing the previous tungsten front lighting with an LED source. While it made sense to match the upstage ESPRITE PCs with moving lights from the same manufacturer, a thorough assessment of the available options was conducted, together with an on-site shoot-out, explains Det Norske Teatret's Per Willy Liholm, the technical co-ordinator for Stage 2 and a lighting designer.

He and the theatre's head of lighting, Torkel Skjaerven, worked together to choose the best new lighting solution for a theatre with a diverse production program: quality of light, including color temperature, color mixing, and fine detailing, in addition to CRI, smooth dimming, intensity, and quietness.

Stage 2 only has one designated lighting technician, so Liholm and Skjaerven ideally wanted a fixture that was light enough to be a safe, one-person lift, which is possible with the ESPRITE.

Lihom mentions that ESPRITES work extremely well alongside some of their other theatrical light brands and ranges. Skaerven notes that Robe's LED engine features distinctive color attributes that have essentially become "their white." He also notes the advantages of limiting the number of brands in a space, meaning less external administration to deal with, and a scenario offering more chances to build up the staff's expertise and knowledge base.

It was another step in the ongoing mission to eventually replace all the tungsten light sources with LED. For the moment, some tungsten lights will be kept going, as so many theatre lighting designers still love and swear by them. "One day, those old luminaires will become the effect lights of the future!" Skjaerven says.

The theatre's program embraces a range of theatrical genres, including musicals and new, classic, and contemporary Norwegian and European drama, presenting approximately 20 new shows a year and attracting around 260,000 visitors in that same timeframe.

SkjaervenRobe's Norwegian distributor Prostage is a "solid and well-respected supply partner," and was delighted when Lars Kristian Bakke, who worked on technical sales for the previous distributor, joined Prostage, citing this as another reason to stay with the brand.