The reopening of The Atkinson gives Southport (UK) its flagship arts and cultural venue, following the completion of a three-year, £17m redevelopment programme.
The project saw London-based theatre specialist, Theatreplan, serve as theatre consultant, overseeing the redevelopment of the venue’s two auditoria. For soundreinforcement, Theatreplan specifed EM Acoustics loudspeakers throughout both rooms, which were installed by Oxford Sound and Media, along with the rest of the loose audio equipment.
The main performance venue, the Atkinson Theatre, is a traditional proscenium arch theatre with a capacity of 440, and also houses a state-of-the-art cinema screen. The second venue, called the Studio, is designed to be a more flexible performance space.
Featuring a large permanent stage, an open floor and balcony seating, the Studio is well suited to music and children’s theatre. It can seat up to 300 or as few as 60 for more intimate events.
‘It was clear that the spaces are going to be used by a huge range of performers with widely differing skill levels, so the equipment needs to be easy to use while delivering high-quality sound throughout the complex,’ says Theatreplan’s Mathew Smethurst-Evans.
For the Atkinson Theatre, Smethurst-Evans opted for a combination of EM Acoustics flagship MSE-159 and MSE-156 full-range, point source loudspeakers for the proscenium arch and side fill, supplemented by five i-2 front fill speakers. A pair of flown EMS-118s provide low frequency reinforcement and pair of ultra-compact EMS-51s handle fill for the Minstrels Gallery. Stage monitoring is handled by six EM Acoustics dedicated M-12 wedges.
The Studio relies exclusively on MSE-156s throughout (six in total) with low-end reinforcement coming from two groundstacked EMS-118 subs plus six M-12 stage monitors. All amplification is from EM Acoustics amplifiers.
‘We chose EM Acoustics products because we have been extremely impressed with them on recent projects,’ says Smethurst-Evans. ‘Simply put, we believe that there is little to compete with them at this price point. Thanks to their passive crossover design, EM loudspeakers are truly plug-and-play. The fact that users don’t have to worry about managing controller or amplifier presets immediately puts them at ease, and the sound quality is excellent. From the installer’s point of view, once the system is commissioned, they almost never have to go back because the products are robust and reliable. There is very little for the end user to do other than switch the system on and off. For this kind of project, EM Acoustics has proved time and again to be an ideal solution for all concerned.’
More: www.theatreplan.co.uk
More: www.emacoustics.co.uk
