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Soweto Theatre invests in Robe Esprites

For the last ten years, the Soweto Theatre - located in Soweto, a township of the City of Johannesburg, South Africa - has provided a performing arts hub and forum for creative expression reaching into the heart of the local community.

In 2023, the lighting department, headed by Nkululeko Mazibuko, received twelve new Robe Esprite moving lights as part of a technical upgrade which was co-ordinated by the venue’s technical manager, Lebugang Andrew Mnisi. The lights were delivered by Robe’s South African distributor DWR and join the original Robe LEDWash 300 and 600E Spot moving lights that have been working in the theatre since it opened in 2012, together with the LEDBeam 150s that were purchased in 2019.

The Esprites will be deployed in the Soweto Theatre’s largest closed performance space, the Gibson Kente Theatre. The Theatre hosts a diversity of theatrical and drama performances and is also regularly used for concerts, music-based TV programmes, gospel shows, musicals, DVD shoots and festival events. The Esprites are rigged on the outside amphitheatre stage. Now at the back part of the Theatre, this was Soweto’s original performance space and can accommodate up to 10,000 people in its current format.

The Esprite’s Transferable Engine (TE) technology was one of the key points for both Mazibuko and Mnisi for whom the concept and possibility of replacing or being able to swap out the LED engine makes perfect sense. Mnisi also mentions that being able to use them as a follow spot if needed was another bonus.

DWR’s Kevin Stannett, who looks after the Soweto Theatre account, highlights that getting a luminaire like Esprite in house also makes sense from a cross rental perspective: “If they need to increase the quantity for a specific show, the stock can be augmented as there are already plenty of Esprites in circulation.”

Pictured (left to right): Soweto Theatre technical manager Lebugang Andrew Mnisi, DWR’s Kevin Stannett and lighting designer Nkululeko Mazibuko. (Photos: Louise Stickland/Paul Clarke)

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