ADB KLEMANTIS and Claypaky AXCOR SPOTS enhance the Timely Drama of “Going Through” on the London Stage

“Going Through,” a timely play about an asylum seeker fleeing conflict in her native land, has finished its run at the Bush Theatre in London here ADB KLEMANTIS asymmetric cyclights and Claypaky Axcor Spot 300s played key roles in the innovative staging.

The play by Estelle Savasta was translated from the French and performed in English as well as British Sign Language.  The words of the asylum seeker, Nour, are also expressed in projected text.  

“The show was a really intricate combination of moving set panels, projection and lighting,” says Lighting Designer Joshua Pharo. “Both performers used British Sign Language throughout, so the lighting needed to work very rigorously to keep them suitably illuminated at all times. My challenge was to integrate seamlessly with Nina Dunn’s projections so the audience couldn’t tell what was projection and what was light.  The set design originally had a backlit cyc, but this evolved into a crumpled backdrop of paper that felt like an epic mountainous landscape.”

Pharo selected ADB KLEMANTIS cyclights to create “a beautifully even cascade of light across the width and height of the paper backdrop. Their subtlety and depth of color created really ravishing tones from very deep inky blues to lush, full-spectrum, warm sunlight. Because of the precision in the seven-color chip and algorithms, I could match very precisely with the projection content and [the character’s] journeys. The lime color was just right, the depth of color blending beautifully with the saturated tones.”

Pharo opted to add a complement of Claypaky Axcor Spots 300 to the rig as well. “They provided a vital backbone to the show: The brightness and sharpness of image used to its full range and the incredible zoom range were vital in such a low grid height — just three meters.  And the color tone of the white chip was beautiful in itself.  Much of the design utilized the natural color of the white chips.

“I’m grateful for Claypaky’s brilliant support for the run of the show and the opportunity to use their excellent new range of products,” Pharo says.