Soweto Theatre Jabulani Update

Thanks to Denis Hutchinson, Theatre Consultant on the project, I have three new photos of the theatre complex to share!

The land in front of the complex will get a beautiful paving design.

See all those dangling wires? It looks like the proscenium theatre is getting its fly system in order.

This theatre looks like it has its sound absorption materials in place.

Construction Site - Jabulani Performing Arts Complex in Soweto

Construction Zone:  Jabulani – Soweto’s New Theatre Complex

These aluminum studs are cut-offs from the construction of walls within the theatre complex. The complex is due to open soon.

Since these images are of the theatre venues, offices and shops still under construction, it makes sense to apply a little imagination to see the full impact of the spaces. The photos were taken with only existing light,and  are somewhat artistic in and of themselves.


Here’s a link http://www.inkanyeli.co.za/index.html to the website where you can see the artist’s original image of what the complex will look like. The order of the colours has changed, but the cubic collection is prominent and exciting to see on the landscape.

Looking from the West at the side of the Theatre. You can see each theatre space seems to have its own cube.

     Theatre consultant Denis Hutchinson invited me to take a look at the new theatre being constructed in the Jabulani area of Soweto, Johannesburg. As Theatre Consultant, he worked with the architects to get the most valuable theatre environment for the community, audience, actor and technicians. The new theatre has three performing arts venues seating 420, 180 and 90 people respectively.

     The theatre is a forward-looking reaction to the 2010 Soccer World Cup, promoting a lasting legacy for South Africans. One goal is to evolve Soweto from a bedroom community into a normalized city on its own merits. Executive Mayor, Amos Masondo said that the theatre would not just provide jobs during the construction phase but also provide on-going employment for cast and crew members such as actors, musicians, dancers, directors and singers. It is designated as a World Class Theatre Venue.

 

The Jabulani Theatre under construction in July, 2010. This is a view looking nearly East. This side is going to have the large words “Jabulani Theatre” on it.



This view from the audience seating level on the main floor is an interesting composition of curved and diagonal lines. You can see the proscenium arch walkway above on the right.



The complex features a 420-seater main proscenium venue fully fitted with wings, orchestra pit, fly tower and buttress.

The proscenium opening shows the curved pit fitted in steel, and the scaffolding in place to work the rigging points for the fly system.



This tall view of the proscenium theatre from the backstage door looking stage right shows the temporary plywood surface covering the steel girders in place for the soon - to - arrive stage floor.



What is really interesting is the view from the very top of the proscenium arch. This is going to be a hallway. This view of the consultant discussing the location of the ceiling is from on top of the proscenium arch looking toward the audience seating.



This view of the proscenium venue is from the back of the balcony. Soon there will be carpeting, seats, and aisle lights.



This view from the audience seating level on the main floor is an interesting composition of curved and diagonal lines. You can see the proscenium arch walkway above on the right.



The complex also includes two smaller "black box" venues of 180 and 90 seats, respectively.

This is what the black box looked like a few days ago. Work lights and ceiling are in. Image is supplied by Denis Hutchinson, the Theatre Consultant.



This is the smaller of the two black box theatres. The catwalk system and surrounding balcony are similar in both theatres.

The footprints are a reminder for me to add that other amenities, such as bathrooms, offices, food preparation areas, library and workrooms are also being built. We traveled across some very dusty and very new surfaces to find the costume shop, wardrobe, make-up rooms, offices and loading doors to the scene shop and storage areas.



This work-dusty stairwell will lead from the second floor proscenium arch area down to the hallways leading to the main foyer.



The plasterers are masters at throwing “mud” on vertical surfaces. The curved walls of the foyer blend into the hallways upstairs.



As with all construction sites, entrepreneurs find a shady spot to set up food service.



Through the construction scaffolding of the theatre complex you can see the famous Jabulani Amphitheatre where in 1985 Zindzi Mandela read her father’s letter to President P. W. Botha regarding the ”… preconditions for his release and the ultimate negotiations with the ANC.”  (Kgolane,  Alfred Rudolph. Celebrating and Commemorating Twenty-Years of the Harare Declaration. Web accessed 10/9/2011. http://www.sahistory.org.za/articles/harare-declaration ).

And so you see that even with the creation of a new entertainment complex progress in South Africa mingles with history as well as makes history in its own right.

Pretoria's Magnificent Aula Theatre: In the Middle of Rennovation

The Aula Theatre at the University of Pretoria


The Aula Theatre was designed by Karel Joost in 1951, and built between the years of 1956 and 1958. It has 1012 seats and was the major opera venue in Gauteng until the State Theatre was built in the early 1980’s.

Photo source: http://repository.up.ac.za/upspace/handle/2263/6795

Leon Pienaar did a sketchup model of the theatre based on Joost’s plans in 2008. One can find it on Goodgle 3D Warehouse along with other University of Pretoria buildings.


http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/cldetails?mid=e9264075e30cccbbf1e3e89aa55457a5&ct=mdcc&start=48

You can see the fly tower is huge, and the glass fronted lobby brings a lot of natural light.

 Currently the Aula is going through some massive upgrades so much so that I was able to hold a lighting workshop with their brand new ETC Sensor dimmers in March before anyone could use them. The renovation continues with the lighting bars being installed on motorized winches, and a new roof and lobby upgrades. I encourage you to click on the photos below to enlarge them in order to appreciate the detail.


A lighting designer sitting in the house seats would look house left to see a rather large Reiger pipe organ that takes up prime lighting location real estate. I have been told the organ gets played once a year. It is getting a computer assisted something or other to make it even better.

The photo shows the house left side of the Aula theatre auditorium featuring the Reiger organ. The theatre’s designer was not concerned about lighting angles or positions. If you look above the audience seats at the ceiling, you see the spines or fins that support the roof but also get in the way of angles for lighting positions.

The stage is completely empty now because they have been working on the rigging. This theatre used to house operas until the Pretoria State Theatre was built. It looks huge, doesn't it? The front view of the stage shows how magnificent the space is. It is certainly not a dark theatre. The lighting desk in the blond wooden box dead center because the designers and technicians abandoned the original lighting control room for the better viewing angle.

The close-up of the Reiger organ shows how huge it is. I would really love to play it! (I got to play the organ at the Masonic Temple in Guthrie, Oklahoma…)

The Aula Theatre runs its lights from an ETC lighting desk. Johnnie Heinemann, Facilities Manager, is looking into upgrading to an ION or an EOS. It was very nice to find ETC equipment at the University of Pretoria.

In fact, the Aula theatre has brand new ETC Sensor dimmers! Pictured here are the old dimmers, and pictured below are the new ETC Sensor dimmers which take up a lot less space.

The view of the Aula theatre’s auditorium from the stage gives you a fair idea of what more than 1000 seats looks like. You can see the FOH lighting positions are just rectangular slots in the ceiling. Trust me when I say they are scary to get to, and even worse to work with. This access is something that is addressed in the Aula’s renovation.

The fly gallery photo shows four operating levels. Handlines are on one level up, and the motorized lighting bar winches are on an upper level. The lighting bars have been lowered to proscenium height in this photo.

 

In this photo of the rope locks for the linesets, you can appreciate how tight the flyspace is from upstage to downstage. Below are great details of a rope lock and the take-up sheaves.

Rope lock at the Aula Theatre

Take-up sheaves at the Aula Theatre

Just looking at the hemp control rope made me look around for gloves…

The electric winches are used for the electric bars and run from this unit on the flyrail level.  The winches themselves are up above on another level and look like this:

 And below 1is a close-up of one of the winches with the aircraft cable wrapped around its drum.

This photo above is the view of the Aula stage from the middle fly gallery position.I was standing above the proscemium but below the top fly height looking stage right when I took this picture.

And you get to the various fly galleries by climbing up this long ladder. This photo is from the bottom of the ladder.

I’ll close this blog post with a photo of the Aula team and myself. From left to right: Mark White of ETC Europe, Johnnie Heinemann, Heine Grobler, Heidi Hoffer, Hein Zentgraf of T&A Lighting/Prosound, Boy Magnussen of T&A Lighting/Prosound, and Ian Blair the General Manager of T&A Lighting/Prosound.  I really appreciated being able to interview the team members, and be shown around the Aula Theatre in the middle of its renovation. Photo was taken by Phuti.

University of Johannesburg's Fantastic Theatre Part 3

Backstage Areas
 Continuing with our exploration of the University of Johannesburg Theatre's facilities, we visit the backstage areas.

Off of the Greenroom is the entrance to the scenery storage hall. The laundry room is just to the right from the middle of this hall. This storage hall features natural light coming from the recessed skylights up left.

This is a better view of the skylight. The height of this storage hall can accomodate opera-sized scenery storage.

The loading door into the storage hall may look small, but it is larger than the opening of a truck, and that's all that matters.

Denis Hutchinson (Theatre Consultant, Lighting and Scene Designer) points out some of the details required in a single-purchase fly system.



This is a close-up of the type of rope-lock typically installed in theatres. This theatre uses real hemp rope. The humidity factor is not so large here to consider using a synthetic rope.



This is a close-up of the weights in a fly arbor. The weights are safely locked into position using the thumbscrew sets. The weights are also cast with the initials of the University of Johannesburg Arts Center on them. (UJAC). Notice how they dovetail into each other on each of the stacks.

Backstage is the usual accumulation of theater materials, including this bright yellow spiral staircase. Beyond the yellow staircase are the ropes of the fly system.

The ladder to the fly gallery's loading rail has a stop at the first and second floors. This stop shows how well-lit with blue running lights the technician access areas are.

The middle level catwalk of the fly gallery shows both the working (white)  and the runing lights (blue) being used. The loading rail is one more flight up.

The previous post covers the public, administrative and performer areas. The next post will cover the lighting areas. The UJ Theatre architectural tour was very thorough.