072 VENUE


“The three sided auditorium is the most challenging


aspect. We have to treat the space as a three-system venue. The actor can be facing away from some of


the audience for a long time, or turn quickly during the speeches. Whilst this is fine


acoustically as the acoustics are brilliant in the new RST, when we do amplify people it’s a real challenge.” - Jeremy Dunn


New restaurant and café facilities are housed on the upper floors


Acoustic Dimensions handled the acoustic treatment of the theatre. With a mixture of performances - unaided voice and amplified - it was critical that the foundation of a first class acoustic design was implemented. Challenges such as the lack of reflective ceiling, due to ‘heaven’ and the lack of reflection offered by the original proscenium opening, put a lot of emphasis on the balcony fronts and walls to be effective in transporting the unaided voice to each of the three sides of the theatre. The reduction in the performer to audience distance has aided the direct sound and with the manipulation of surfaces, an extremely affective acoustic solution has been established. The amplified solution presented its own challenges. The RSC’s Head of Sound, Jeremy Dunn, explained that the brief demanded a silent running system: “I don’t mean quiet, I mean silent. Capable of anything from a slight lift and reverb on a single instrument, to a full-blown musical like Matilda. And future proof the infrastructure for the next 30 years.” And there was the conundrum of the three sided thrust: “The three sided auditorium is the most challenging aspect. We have to treat the space as a three-system venue. The actor can be facing away from some of the audience for a long time, or turn quickly during the


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speeches. Whilst this is fine acoustically as the acoustics are brilliant in the new RST, when we do amplify people it’s a real challenge. In order to cope with ever changing delay times, we have a delay system with over 30 zones, 10 for the orchestra that are timed from the old stage house where there is a band gallery, and 20 delay times for actors on mic from other areas of the stage. These all merge via a NEXUS system, that runs on Madi directly linked from the DiGiCo SD7.” Dunn conspired with RSC colleague, Mike Compton to propose the audio infrastructure, which was then drawn up by Charcoalblue, who dealt with details like the wire specs, containment sizes and segregation. Stage Electrics coordinated and installed the equipment. “We couldn’t have done the project so well without the dedication and attention to detail from Jonathan Porter Goff and Tim Cullen from Stage Electrics,” said Dunn. Stage Electrics involvement with the RSC began in 2005, when the installation specialists carried out work on the Courtyard Theatre, which was both conceptual to the future RST and actual, in that it was installed in a fully operational theatre. For the transfer to the RST, the company’s CAD department,


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