THE
PHOTO : KENDRA FANCONI
MAGIC
HOUR
DELIVERS A WHIMSICAL WALK-THROUGH EXPERIENCE
By Brad Trenaman
CBC ’ S CHARLIE CHO ON A WALK-THROUGH OF THE MAGIC HOUR
What do you do when you ’ re a production rental company with a warehouse full of unused equipment because a pandemic has essentially shut down the industry you serve ? While many companies were forced to close and layoff or furlough hundreds , if not thousands , of employees , we ’ ve also read about those who have managed to find new ways of keeping their workforce ( and gear ) engaged — warehouses that were transformed into livestreaming studios , stage drapery companies that shifted to mask production , and the list goes on and on .
For Innovation Lighting in Vancouver , they ’ ve found success and satisfaction during the past year and a half by partnering with other companies – both commercial and non-profit – to explore creative ways of storytelling with light . And they ’ re doing so not only as a means of staying busy , but also promoting their services to the community . Hot off the success of a well-attended ( and COVID-safe ) Halloween haunt at The Beamont Studio in Vancouver ’ s vibrant and eclectic Mount Pleasant neighbourhood , Innovation Lighting ’ s owner Steve Matthews had Account Manager Bryan Kenney reach out to various local theatre companies to see if they might be interested in creating an immersive walk-through show using their gear along with the expertise they gained on the haunt .
One of first companies to respond with a resounding “ yes ” was world-renowned Electric Company Theatre and their Co-Founder and Core Artist Kim Collier . The other was my employer , Presentation House Theatre .
Located in North Vancouver , Presentation House Theatre , where I ’ ve been on contract as resident lighting designer for a number of years and recently took on the role of technical director , was looking for ways to make use of some recently-vacated rooms in their building . Originally built as a schoolhouse in 1902 , the building has a long history of varied uses and was the City of North Vancouver ’ s City Hall up until 1975 . A year later , the Presentation House Cultural Society was formed and tasked with taking care of the building which , up until recently , housed not only a 150-seat black-box theatre , but also a photo gallery and a museum . With The Polygon Gallery relocating to their shiny new building on the waterfront in 2017 and the Museum of North Vancouver ( MONOVA ) moving out shortly thereafter in anticipation of the completion of their new home ( right next door to Polygon ), Presentation House Theatre had some extra space to play with .
When Bryan Kenney first got in touch with me about this potential walk-through show , I was certainly intrigued , although details were very sparse at that point . Innovation Lighting had graciously sponsored another immersive show I had co-produced last Christmas so I knew there was a lot of potential for this form of storytelling that was both exciting and , most importantly in these challenging times , COVID-safe .
A VIRTUAL TOUR While Collier is still often regarded as a Vancouver artist based on her continuing affiliation with Electric Company Theatre , she has actually called Toronto home for the past decade and was living there since the pandemic began . Up until the day Bryan Kenney showed up at Presentation House for a tour and introduced me to Collier via a Zoom call on his phone , I had no idea who the other party involved was . Having followed the Electric Company ’ s and Kim ’ s work for over a decade and knowing their penchant for pushing the boundaries of production technology , I was happy to show them around the building and invited experienced designer Joel Grinke , a frequent Presentation House collaborator , to join us on the tour . After careful consideration of several other venues they had toured , Collier was convinced that Presentation House would best suit the type of story that she wanted to tell . The three companies – Electric Company Theatre , Presentation House Theatre , and Innovation Lighting – joined forces to co-produce The Magic Hour , and pre-production started
18 | Fall 2021