TAFF | O'Reilly Theatre

Schedule

Bids: To be submitted the term before

Programming: 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th week; no musicals in Trinity term

Get in & Tech: 09:30 Friday before show week up to opening

Performances: The company may choose to have up to 7 performances (Tuesday-Saturday evenings, Saturday and Sunday matinees)

Get out: Immediately following final performance, venue to be cleared by 16:00 on the Monday following closing

Good for:

Crews with some experience
Assistants looking to learn from more experienced designers
An excellent in-house stock of equipment
Innovative designs

Lighting

The theatre has four fixed grids 5.7m above stage level, a small upstage cyc grid, two motorised flybars, and 11 un-counterweighted double-purchase hemp bars. Lights can also be rigged on booms, for which there are four bases and scaff in a variety of lengths and on dollies on I-beam tracks. The rig is wired with 60 16A sockets hardwired directly to dimmers and a further 86 sockets are patchable to 36 dimmer outputs. DMX output sockets are available in various places around the theatre. A scaffolding tower provides access to the grids and an A-frame ladder set provides alternative full height access.

Control is by an ETC Ion with a 2x20 fader wing. The theatre store has an stock of generic lanterns including ETC Source 4 Zooms, ETC Source 4 Pars with various lenses, Thomas Par 64 with various lamps, ADB F101 Fresnels, and Stand Coda asymmetric floods with corresponding gel frames and some additional accessories, such as irises. However, many of these fixtures are out of service. The rig benefits greatly from additional intelligent fixtures, for example the OUTTS Mac 2000s and Robe 600s.

Sound

Mixing is done via a Soundcraft Si Impact, with a 16i Mini Stagebox. There are facilities for playback of all common sources (MD, CD, CDR and cassette) and there is also an FX unit. There are many possible speaker configurations (FoH, subs and powered and non-powered monitors) and a stock of cables. There are 4 t Amplifiers can be patched to the speaker outputs around the theatre from the control room. The theatre has a stock of 24 speakers across two independent systems.

The venue has a very small number of wired mics. It also has 3 basic radio mics, which could be used for some simple applications. The mixer has sufficient capacity to control extra radio mics you may wish to hire in (e.g. for musicals)., which OUTTS can supply. There are sound tie-lines running between the control box and the stage, and also between the control box and the balcony.

There is an Apple Mac Mini based playback system based on QLab and a MOTU Ultralite soundcard, which is located in the control room however can be controlled from anywhere in the theatre using an installed KVM system. The Mac can conect directly to the mixer over USB for 32 channels of indepentent recording and playback. This is the recommended system for your production's sound effects and playbacks.

Stage

The empty theatre is 12.8x10.2m on stage level with a balcony 2.8m above stage level running round two sides. The space can be set up in any configuration, within fire safety regulations. Specifications for end on, symmetric or asymmetric thrust, traverse, in the round, and traverse can be found in the manual. End on seating is supported by retractable seating banks. Additional portable seat units offer up to f 64 additional seats.

The wooden floor must be covered with reversible black/white dance floor, which must not be cut. 1000m square rostra is available in 250mm and 500mm high frames with corresponding steps. These can be stacked up to a height of 1m. It is possible to design ambitious sets in this venue, but note that you cannot build or paint on site.

A permanently rigged microphone can play show relay in the control room and dressing rooms. Calls can be made to both FOH and backstage from the control room. A Metro Audio backstage communications system is installed and can be accessed by several headset and belt pack kits.

There are two small dressing rooms and two backstage toilets.

Stage

The empty theatre is 12.8x10.2m on stage level with a balcony 2.8m above stage level running round two sides. The space can be set up in any configuration, within fire safety regulations. Specifications for end on, symmetric or asymmetric thrust, traverse, in the round, and traverse can be found in the manual. End on seating is supported by retractable seating banks. Additional portable seat units offer up to64 additional seats.

The wooden floor must be covered with reversible black/white dance floor, which must not be cut. 1000m square rostra is available in 250mm and 500mm high frames with corresponding steps. These can be stacked up to a height of 1m. It is possible to design ambitious sets in this venue, but note that you cannot build or paint on site.

A permanently rigged microphone can play show relay in the control room and dressing rooms. Calls can be made to both FOH and backstage from the control room. A Metro Audio backstage communications system is installed and can be accessed by several headset and belt pack kits.

There are two small dressing rooms and two backstage toilets.

Access

The audience and any deliveries should enter the theatre from the door on Blackhall road. The main auditorium doors, control box, and balcony level are one floor below street level. The stage and storeroom are at basement level. The service lift may be used to move equipment or scenery items between floors and a separate passenger lift provides level access for disabled audience members.

Video & Projection

The O'Reilly has an extensive video and projection system, with dual projectors and a video patching system. The Mac Mini also has a TripleHead2Go unit attached which gives up to 3 seperate VGA outputs from QLab. This system can be very complex to manage, however the complexity should not be offputting, as high quality results have been obtained on several occasions - the projectors in particular are of very high quality. However, if you wish to use projection as an element in your production, in particular if you are not in end-on configuration, you would be advised to discuss this well in advance of the get-in and obtain advice from the Theatre Technician on the best way to set up and use the system.