TAQA Theater De Vest, the Netherlands, Invests in Robe TAQA Theater De Vest in Alkmaar, the Netherlands, has upgraded its main hall lighting to include a substantial number of Robe moving lights, including forty-seven T1 Profiles and 12 LEDBeam 350s added to the house rig. Most of the units are in daily use in this 700-capacity theatre venue, while another 28 T1 Profiles and eightT1 Fresnels have been installed in the 270-seat small hall for front lighting. In addition to these lighting fixtures in each room, there is also a set of mobile lights that can be used across various locations: 12 iBeam 350s, eight LEDWash 300s, 16 LEDBeam 350s, twenty T.5 Profiles, six TetraXs and eight LEDPointes. Theater De Vest offers a diverse program of comedy, drama, musicals, dance shows, concerts and festivals and also has a conference center. The same management team also operates the adjacent Grote Sint Laurenskerk (Great St. Lawrence Church), a 15th-century Gothic architectural jewel, as a contemporary event space. Mattijs van Muiden, head of technical, says the main hall upgrade process started two years ago, when the theatre's staff was looking for the best LED options. The T1's multispectral light source appealed for its optics and color mixing. "We liked the precise shuttering," van Muiden says, referring to Robe's patented Plano4 four-blade framing shutter module, which offers unparalleled beam control with individual movement and rotation parameters for each blade. Additionally seeking a small wash light, initially for the portal bridge, extensive testing led to Robe's LEDBeam 350. The RGBA version was chosen to create stronger ambers and brighter enhanced oranges. The iBeam 350s -- an IP-rated version of the LEDBeam -- were needed to work outdoors as a multipurpose light for the theatre's six-week summer festival on the town square. van Muiden and the crew liked the iBeam 350's versatility, using them for front lighting, washing architectural features, or for eye-candy effects. van Muiden runs a technical crew of ten, plus freelancers and one or two interns a year. 
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