Speeldoos Theatre Invests in Robe T1 Profiles

	(l-r) Speeldoos Theatre technical manager Kevin van Boeijen, Controllux's Maikel Sakkers, and Speeldoos lighting tech, Yuri van Boelgeest. Photo: Louise Stickland

Located in Baarn, in the Utrecht region right in the centre of The Netherlands, Speeldoos Theatre is a vibrant local and national hub for culture including film screenings and all types of live performing arts -- music, cabaret, dance, drama, etc. Last year, the venue, which has a cosy 343-seat theatre space, invested in Robe T1 Profiles which were part of a lighting upgrade.

Overseeing this was technical manager Kevin van Boeijen, who explains that they will typically stage over 100 events across a year, screening movies on Mondays and Tuesdays with live shows the rest of the week including opera live streams. Discos and parties are often hosted in the foyer, bands also play in the bar area, and the spaces are available for private events. There is constant activity.

The 16 T1 Profiles were purchased to replace all the theatre's generic PC and profile front light in the theatre space.

The venue was built in the 1970s and does have a front bridge, however a person cannot fully stand up straight whilst on it, so for safety reasons and more recent legislation, this can now only be used for basic technical maintenance requirements, not for more complex tasks like focusing lights.

van Boeijen and his team had also been wanting to start switching to LED stage lighting for some time, and the general consensus was that this would be a good time to commence the process and to also get moving lights permanently into Speeldoos.

They started looking for the best options. Being front light, CRI, brightness, and quality of the light output were all critical, and Robe's T-series stands out for all these attributes, the company says.

The venue was already dealing with Robe's Benelux distributor Controllux for other brands, so they and two alternative brand distributors were asked to propose their best solutions. This was followed by demonstrations and an on-site shootout for each one.

From this, the T1 Profile was picked as the best option to fulfil Speeldoos' front lighting needs.

"The dimming curve is incredible on the T1," states van Boeijen, "especially in that final critical 0-10% where any glitches in the smoothness are highly noticeable."

The T1 Profiles are rigged onto an additional bar which has been added to the FOH bridge, and they were delivered in time for the start of the 2023-24 season.

van Boeijen was further impressed with the silent running of the T1 profiles. "Even with all 16 on at 100%, you cannot hear them!" he stated, explaining that this was another key consideration for Speeldoos, and the front bridge is in quite close proximity to the audience.

"The price was also excellent," he notes, "so all of these things combined, plus the outstanding service and support we already know we can expect from Controllux made it the best product for the job."

Having the T1s installed immediately started making a massive difference to how shows can be lit. "They are seriously better than the previous lights, they look nicer, they provide a nice even and consistent front and 'specials' light source and generally offer so much more flexibility, both practical and creative," states van Boeijen, who originally started working at the venue Speeldoos as an intern 14 years ago.

All the touring shows that Speeldoos receives have also all been happy to use them, the company says.

Their tech crew do not have to use the lighting bridge at all now, only for maintenance, and the T1s can all be safely focused and adjusted from the floor.

van Boeijen and the lighting team were all familiar with Robe as a brand before they received their new fixtures in-house and had seen some of the products in action with incoming touring shows. "We knew it was a top brand in our industry, and we are very happy with our choice," he concludes.