Ayrton Diablo on stage with The Little Prince

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, directed by Stefano Genovese, made its debut appearance 80 years after its publication in a magnificent theatrical production that toured Italy from Rome to Milan in February, and will land in France and the rest of Europe next Autumn.

The production tackles some ‘grown-up’ themes, such as love, friendship, the meaning of life, and death, but does so in a simple language suitable for all ages. The story that tells us that adults never think about the really important things, i.e. those we are taught as children and forget once we grow up.

Lighting designer, Giovanni Pinna, chose eighteen Ayrton Diablo fixtures for the theatrical staging, a choice dictated by the need for a lightweight motorised profile of small dimensions and high-performance.

As with other profile luminaires in the same Ayrton product line, the framing section allows for accurate positioning of its four shutter blades across a 100 per cent surface in all positions, so the user can frame any object regardless of the position of the fixture – an invaluable feature for this production.

« The Diablos, rigged at different depths across the stage, were used for all selective and shaping work, sculpting the stage with light, as well as for effects (gobos-prisms) and for different situations using frost and wide zoom,” says Pinna. « As far as the concept of the project was concerned, we moved from very static and typically theatrical moments, to very dynamic and musical ones where effects and movement became the protagonists. Throughout the show, the Diablos were always ‘on stage’.

« The Diablo is certainly a very good product, probably the best in its range in terms of lighting performance and functionality, and has contributed substantially to the success of the project. It has excellent reliability and has given us no problems whatsoever. We are very likely to use it in a similar context in future.”

The Little Prince played in Rome at the Sistina Theatre from 3-12 February, in Bologna at the Celebrazioni Theatre from 16-19 February, in Turin’s Colosseo Theatre from 23-26 February, Florence’s Tuscany Hall from 2-5 March and will play in Milan’s Repower Theatre from 23 March – 2 April.

The Ayrton Diablo fixtures were supplied by technical production and rental company BOTW of Rome.

Texte: Courtesy of Molpass, translated by Julie Harper
Photos: © Fabrizio Moggio