Backstage Heritage Collection to Debut at PLASA London 2014

	The Backstage Heritage Collection will launch at PLASA London 2014

UPDATE: The launch event will take place at noon on Sunday, October 5.

Backstage Heritage Collection, a new organization aiming to document and, where possible, preserve the history of entertainment production technology, will introduce itself to the world this Sunday, October 5, at the 2014 PLASA London show. The launch event will take place at noon on the Theatres Trust Theatre Stage, stand R40, at the ExCeL exhibition center in London.

Being created from a series of conversations, discussions, and meetings amongst like-minded theatre professionals disappointed by the lack of any kind of museum or organization charting the history of stage lighting and other backstage technologies, the Backstage Heritage Collection aims to tackle these issues. The organization's twin hopes: to comprehensively document vintage equipment on-line, gathering together high quality present-day images with original design, promotion and marketing materials and reminisces from those who originally created and used the products -- a virtual museum. Then, where possible, to preserve equipment by finding people able and willing to give it a safe, accessible home -- a distributed museum, or collection of collections.

"The aim primarily is to make sure that the equipment that shaped the way our industry works is carefully documented and brought together with the amazing memories that seeing their products again stirs up in those pioneers who first created and used them," explains lighting designer/programmer and entertainment technology writer Rob Halliday, one of those behind the project. "After that, we're coming to think of it as a lonely hearts agency for old lighting equipment, or perhaps a lighting lending library. The aim is to find organizations -- suppliers, theatres, colleges -- that are as fascinated by this equipment as us and are prepared to give it a home, whether to put it on show to attract the attention of visitors, or to study it to see how it shaped the way we do things now."

Entertainment lighting supplier White Light is already providing a home for some of the Backstage Heritage Collection, racks in their offices proudly displaying a 1970 Strand IDM memory console, later Gemini and Galaxy consoles, plus consoles from Celco, Zero88, and Berkey Colortran. "The reaction has been amazing," comments White Light's operations director, Chris Nicholls. "As soon as people see them they literally stop in their tracks and come over to play with them. We've even had people coming in especially just to see the one of the consoles -- usually whichever they first operated."

Other items of vintage equipment under the Backstage Heritage umbrella will be on show at PLASA: the vintage Strand "half lights" used to educate users about the innards of lighting fixtures at the company's famous King Street showroom, which have long been in the care of lighting collector Jim Laws, will be decorating Strand Lighting's centenary bar at the show.

The launch event, noon on Sunday on the Theatres Trust Theatre Stage (stand R40) is the perfect opportunity to find out more from some of those bringing the collection to life, including lighting designer and theatre consultant Richard Pilbrow, Strand archive website creator Jon Primrose, Jim Laws, the ABTT's Robin Townley and many others. Pilbrow will also be leading a panel later in the afternoon (at 3:45pm) looking at the past, present, and future of lighting control that will reference many of the control systems the collection is hoping to preserve.

Further information about this year's PLASA Show can be found at the URL below.

Further information about the Backstage Heritage Collection can be found at the URL below or via Twitter at @backstagecoll.