Circo de los Horrores (Circus of Horrors) presented Apocalipsis – A Day After, their fourth epic circus rock opera production combining the drama of theatre, the pumping rhythm of rock ‘n’ roll and the adrenaline buzz of circus, which is currently touring key Spanish cities after launching in Madrid.
It will also tour internationally. Lighting designer Juanjo Llorens needed a flexible and powerful lighting rig to ensure he could create the requisite mood and spectacle, and that includes 126 Robe moving lights, with 24 MegaPointes, 24 x Pointes, 24 x Spiiders, 24 x LEDBeam 150s, 24 x ParFect 100s and six BMFL WashBeams, which together with other lights are being supplied and co-ordinated by technical production specialist, Smart Fussion. This rental company has invested steadily in Robe in recent years, supplied via Spanish distributor EES.
It’s the largest Circo de los Horrores show to date and the third that Juanjo has lit. With the addition of a live band and a larger troupe of dancers as well as the breath-taking circus stunts and aerial work, powerful all-encompassing lighting was needed. The scale of the concept – the last day on earth – also demanded a bigger and broader technical and creative approach than before, explained Juanjo when quizzed on the starting point for his design.
Another major change was that Circo de los Horrores swapped from a conventional circus big top tent to a massive Italian tented structure providing the complete venue – stage, backstage and technical facilities, auditorium, etc.
Central to this production is a prominent 28-metre-wide 8-metre-high LED screen acting as a cyc and providing digital scenery and a variety of ambient backgrounds. Juanjo worked closely with show director Suso Silva to establish the style and aesthetic of the piece which seamlessly blends ideas and visual moments from theatre, rock, dance and acrobatic performance.
The Robe fixtures were all selected for their intensity and versatility. Juanjo needed moving lights able to hold their own against the video screen and offer multiple options. “With all of these multifunctional fixtures it’s like have more lights physically present in the rig!” he observed.
Once the basic imaginative parameters of the performance were established, he addressed fixture placement. A square rigging grid was designed to facilitate all the circus acts and a separate mother grid was installed below this to create the overhead lighting positions, trimmed at 14 metres.
Pointes, MegaPointes and Spiiders were rigged on this. He needed additional room for essential side lighting positions, so after a bit of consideration, the rigging structure built for the video screen was utilized. This effectively meant the lights surrounded the stage in a U-shape above. Using under-hang brackets and drop bars, lights are fitted all the way down these side positions.