Recently the UK’s most famous experimental theatre group, Punchdrunk, joined forces with one of the mightiest opera companies, English National Opera, to create a unique version of John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi, with a little help from Stage Electrics.
The unique part about this play is it was performed in a three storey, 12’634sq metre (136’000sqft) office and warehouse complex in the Royal Albert Basin, East London. Stage Electrics’ locally based branch situated right in the heart of SE1 next to London Bridge was in the perfect location to supply large quantities of equipment which included cabling, distro, dimming, lanterns and haze machines for this extraordinary production.
“We knew from the start that this was going be a massive project. With a particularly short lead-time and a huge amount of space to cover, it was vital that we could depend on our suppliers. Stage were able to provide us with all the kit and more importantly the backup we needed throughout the project“ commented Euan Maybank, Technical Director, Punchdrunk
Paul Roughton, Business Development Manager commented “This has been a really interesting project to work on, given the temporary nature of the theatre space. It was great that we were locally based; only 20minutes away which ensured that we were able to meet any of their requirements at short notice”.
Unlike traditional opera performances where the audience are seated and separated by the orchestra pit, the audience who attended The Duchess of Malfi were allowed to roam freely throughout the space during the show, following different characters and strands of the story as it unfolded.
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