The venue is the largest producing theatre company in the North East of England and regarded as one of the top ten UK producing theatres. Featuring a stellar cast, Peter Pan ran throughout December and rediscovered the charm of the original timeless children’s story.

When Northern Stage was looking for a fast moving, variable speed system to fly scenery during the show, it initially considered renting in a motorised winch system but this option proved very expensive. It therefore approached A.C. Rigging to find a more cost-effective solution as A.C. had previously supplied and installed the theatre’s complete lighting technical facilities for all three performance stages as part of a multi-million pound refurbishment programme in 2007. 

The venue required a complete package with the ability to expand on the system in the future and more importantly, full product knowledge and support should any problems arise. A.C. Rigging’s UK sales manager, Adam Beaumont, recommended the Kinesys Elevation 1+ motion control system, which transforms an electric chain hoist into a fully functional variable speed device offering precise positioning and speed control at the touch of a button.

A.C. supplied an end-to-end solution featuring two half tonne Model JJ CM Lodestar chain hoists, converted in-house by A.C.’s Rigging department for operation with two Kinesys Elevation 1+ vari-speed controllers. The system also included various pulleys, track and rigging accessories to allow the flying systems to be traverse and divert to specific positions on stage. The resulting system enables the theatre to programme accurate positional scenery cues at speeds from zero to 16m per minute.

The venue complimented the purchased system with extra units hired from Kinesys Projects.

Chris Slater, production manager at Northern Stage, commented: “We opted for the Kinesys system as we felt this offered the most flexibility and by far seemed the best value for money. The Kinesys system allows us to have full control of speed, direction, ramp up / down speeds and height to an accuracy of +/- 1mm. The system is very user friendly, easy to rig, set up, programme and operate, making it easier to swap operators in the event of absence etc. The software was impressively simple to learn, taking  just one day to work out.”

Summarising on his experience of working again with A.C.’s Rigging division, Chris commented: “After using A.C. for our two year refurbishment programme and being more than happy with the level of professionalism and service received, we immediately thought of them as being the best supplier to turn to. Once again, they put together various quotes and solutions, each of which met our needs and all within a very tight timescale. It has been a great opportunity for us to strengthen our relationship with our main supplier. The team are so helpful and friendly, and yet again I will be recommending A.C. to anyone else who needs great products, sound advice and quality service all at a reasonable price.”

Adam Beaumont
A.C. Rigging (a division of A.C. Entertainment Technologies)
Tel: 0113 255 7666    
Email: rigging@ac-et.com
Web: www.ac-et.com/rigging