Robe’s stylish and streamlined new booth design in the main exhibition hall featured a selection of the newest Robe and Anolis brand technologies and ran in tandem with a black box demonstration area downstairs where fixtures were shown ‘in situ.’ RoboSpot workshops were also running downstairs throughout the expo for those keen to expand their knowledge of this powerful and versatile system.

The show proved to be a hub and meeting point for theatre creatives and practitioners working in all sectors, and “a fantastic opportunity to get kit in front of people in-person again,” stated Robe product and theatre specialist, Dave Whitehouse. “We saw many good-quality people all with a huge enthusiasm and appetite for new tech – and using it – as they get back to work!”

The ABTT Awards are one of the organisation’s flagship events, acknowledging those people and products making a difference to the industry.

The secret panel of ABTT judges – an array of experienced and influential theatre practitioners, consultants, and engineers – assessed all the Awards entries on the first show day and made their choices.

They stated that the T11 “fills a void in the industry offering not only a new LED fixture, but also addressing the industry-wide challenge of developing sustainable technology. The units are compact, well-built and have a range of uses.”

Robe’s T1 product had won the same highly coveted and distinctive ABTT Award with its galvanized hook clamp trophy in 2019, the last time the full exhibition was staged at the Alexandra Palace venue before the pandemic interruption.

“It’s a real honour to win two years running,” stated Dave, “The T11 really breaks the model of traditional generic fixtures making it a very worthy candidate. It is a great tribute to Robe’s product designers, developers and R ‘n’ D team and all the hard work and vision involved in bringing it to the market.”

The T11 Profile™, Fresnel and PC fixtures all feature Robe’s MSL-TE™ 350W LED TRANSFERABLE ENGINE, a multispectral light source generating 16,700 lumens which provides exceptional output and ensures colour consistency, control, and response across an entire Robe T-Series rig.

In one luminaire, the T11 will “completely revolutionise the way generic fixtures are used,” elucidated Dave, “providing all the features, flexibility and performance that has been requested by top lighting designers globally.”

With fast-change lenses, an incredible 5 to 50-degree SuperZoom and Robe’s unique TE concept, the T11’s unrivalled flexibility saves time and money as lighting inventories can be greatly reduced and fixture usage maximised. As more alternative MSL™ TRANSFERABLE ENGINE™ LED source options are introduced, existing fixtures / optics will not need replacing to take advantage of different engine types or improved LED technology.

This means T11 is destined to become an infrastructural backbone of the lighting world.

Robe’s new PAINTE moving light also attracted plenty of attention. Designed for noise-sensitive environments, this compact fixture has a TE™ 310W HP White LED engine lightsource (also from the ground-breaking TRANSFERABLE ENGINE technology) plus a motorised 8° - 48° zoom that is perfect for short / medium throw applications with benchmark beam quality.

Architectural lighting brand Anolis – a Robe Business – enjoyed engagement with a wide cross-section of visitors to the expo, from theatre consultants to design practices.

Anolis’ Ambiane range was featured, offering high-performance speciality luminaires for numerous ambient public space applications, bringing vitality to venues such as auditoriums and foyers where light quality is critical. With a high CRI, a simple control mode with CCT and green correction, and a dimming curve to match tungsten lamps, this is another ingenious lighting solution.

Visitors overcame national rail strikes across the UK to attend the show, all keen to look at new technology and discuss potential upcoming projects as the industry surges back to live and in-person performances.

Photo Credit: Lindsay Cave, courtesy Robe UK