Thame Players have made good use of time while the theatre has been closed, due to the Covid-19 restrictions, to upgrade their sound infrastructure. Chief amongst multiple benefits is the future-proofing of the theatre’s sound cabling for many years to come.
The equipment set-up for Thame Players’ own productions and for visiting shows will be far more flexible, and more sophisticated sound effects will be possible. The audience experience will be enhanced significantly because the higher-quality sound suits all hearing abilities.
Sound project gets green light with grant funding support
Improvements of this nature bring expense with them. Recognising that the work could not be funded entirely from their own resources, Thame Players applied for a grant to South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) within their Councillor Community Grants Scheme and were delighted to be awarded part of the overall funds required earlier this year. Adding this to income received from the SO Charitable Lottery scheme, of which the theatre is a beneficiary, the sound upgrade project was given the green light and got underway!
The work has taken six months. The first stage involved pulling out old cabling and introducing new digital cabling from the sound booth to the stage, which has doubled the sound capacity and increased flexibility of use, with more cabling locations around the theatre. Additional cabling enables back projection to be run stage left and stage right, not just from the projector or from the sound booth at the rear of the auditorium. Previously there were major sound limitations for musical acts and other performances.
Increased capacity and flexibility
The introduction of a new digital sound desk means there is greatly increased capacity and the ease of configuration means that sound can now be operated remotely from a phone or tablet. This means that sound adjustments can be made from multiple locations, including when seated in the auditorium. The projector can also now be run remotely. The number of speakers has also been increased, allowing for better sound effects and providing visiting artists with additional capability. A separate network has been built in for technical equipment generally, laying the foundations for the theatre lighting to be incorporated on the same network in the future. Another future project involves upgrading the auditorium speakers.
Mike Chester, Chairman of Thame Players, commented, “Live theatre is the ultimate audio-visual experience. Audiences want to appreciate the best that can be provided and a good sound system is an essential part of this. This sound upgrade brings the theatre’s system fully into the digital age”.
Audience experience improved
The theatre remains closed for the present, but the outcome of this year’s sound upgrade work means that the theatre experience will be substantially improved for future audiences. It would have been difficult to find enough time to undertake this time-consuming project during the short periods when the theatre is ‘dark’ in normal years, so, in a way, the Covid-19 lockdown has enabled some very positive improvements to be made to the theatre experience!
Anyone for tech training?
Masterminding the entire project (including many less comfortable hours spent improving cabling layout in the theatre loft!) were James McCann and Wayne Gibson, who head up the theatre’s tech team, and their hard work will be fully appreciated when the theatre re-opens in 2021. But their work is not yet complete: James and Wayne will soon be organising training sessions for tech volunteers so that they can operate the new sound equipment. They are extending an invitation to any tech students or tech professionals out there, with a bit of time on their hands and who would like to get involved in operating Thame Players’ state-of-the-art sound equipment, to please get in touch and sign up for a training session!
