Philips Selecon and Showline deliver crucial LED versatility on The Addams Family

London, UK – Philips Selecon and Showline LED luminaires have performed a range of crucial lighting roles whilst complementing a traditional tungsten rig on macabre musical The Addams Family at the John McIntosh Arts Theatre in London. Photos by David Croft.

The Wimbledon Light Operatic Society production was based on an original story by Jersey Boys authors Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, which has been described as an ‘off-beat take on 19th century gothic’. The plot line is a ghoulish romp, involving ancestors of the family making their annual visit from the grave only for chaos to ensue.

Lighting designer Paul Flook’s theatrical brief was to differentiate between the living and dead characters using colored light. He added 10 Philips Selecon PLprofile1 luminaires, four PLcyc1 luminaires and eight Philips Showline SL WASH 180 movers to a basic rig, creating a versatile mix of traditional and LED fixtures.

“I wanted to be able to separate the ancestors from the rest of the ‘live’ cast as the action moved,” says Flook. “With the SL WASH 180’s great optics I was able to track and focus wherever I needed with ease.” 

As the play did not feature any major set transformations, Flook was also tasked with using lighting to convey change in location.

“With the SL WASH 180 fixtures I could split the visual picture during the course of the action. They allowed me to wash an area of the stage in traditional colors to evoke a particular setting whilst simultaneously highlighting the ‘ancestors’ in contrasting moody hues,” he explains.

The Philips luminaires were also applied to create looks that swung from the moody and intimate to the bold and vibrant during some of the bigger musical numbers.

“The Philips Selecon PL1 range allowed me to switch from delicate to flamboyant in an instant with its color pallet, which rivals traditional tungsten colorising across the majority of hues,” says Flook. “To apply a full rig of traditional lanterns in the same way as we used the Philips Selecon and Showline fixtures would have been power, weight and space hungry, so adding LED to the mix was the ideal solution.”

 The Addams Family was co-directed between Helen Flook and Janet Huckle.