Martin MAC 101s for Riverside Studios, London

Riverside Studios, on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, was looking for a suitable alternative to PAR cans and scrollers, "something equating to an expensive show run hire," according to Ruari Cormack, technical director of the Riverside Studios Trust. Consequently, the theatre turned to Martin Professional's MAC 101 LED moving head luminaire.

"As a venue, we are aware of the need to cut costs and using LED technology lets us replace banks of lights to give a variety of color palettes whilst using a fraction of the energy," says Cormack, whose role it is to liaise and coordinate all technical theatre matters for the venue's two theatre spaces, as well as any events in the cinema, gallery, and café bar areas. "With our high turnover of productions, these units will give us greater flexibility to meet each show's demands."

Riverside Studios comprises a TV production studio, two theatres, and a 200-seat independent cinema. It plays host to contemporary and international dramatic and dance performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production. It also includes an art gallery and café bar and kitchen with a River Thames side terrace.

Riverside had the MAC 101s in place for a co-production with Tête à Tête Opera of the musical Salad Days, which premiered in early December and runs through February 9. Playing in Studio 2, a 400-seat black-box performance studio with a traverse layout stage, installation of the 101s took place during the fit up on the December 6. The fixtures are located in banks along each side of the stage, providing full stage coverage with some placed to pick up specific areas of action at each end of the central area.

"In future, we are likely to use them as pipe end and front wash lights for most events and general productions, and as featured backlight for music events," Cormack explains. "They are so versatile we could use them most places."

Small and lightweight (approximately 8lbs), the MAC 101 is an LED moving head wash light with a tight and bright beam, rapid movement and calibrated colors. Useful in a variety of applications, it is small enough to fit inside a piece of truss and is exceptionally easy to handle and rig.

Stage Electrics, with whom Riverside Studios has a longstanding relationship, supplied the Martin gear. "Mark Doubleday, the production LD, has been impressed with the output of the unit and we are looking forward to using these over the next few years," Cormack says, adding his thanks to, "Mark Doubleday, Adrian Searle, and James Morris at Stage Electrics, and Mike Walker at Martin Professional, who it has been a pleasure to work with again after many years and whose work to ensure we got the units in a short timeframe, well ahead of the guideline delivery period, was appreciated."