LUKE KIMBALL AS ALBUS POTTER , KALEB ALEXANDER AS SORTING HAT & COMPANY
( L-R ) TREVOR WHITE AS HARRY POTTER , KATIE RYERSON AS MOANING MYRTLE & TRISH LINDSTROM AS GINNY POTTER
20 | Fall 2022
version of the X4 Bar . Thank me ,” Austin laughs . “ Mark found this fantastic holographic diffuser company who made us all sorts of different diffusers — half a degree by half a degree , one by one degree , etc . Eventually we settled on two by two degrees being the perfect amount to not lose the beam in the air , but to just fuzz out the chromatic aberration . So , things like that were essential .”
Another major technical development made specifically for Austin to use on The Cursed Child , and which has since become widely popular around the theatrical lighting industry , is LightStrike . The invention of Daniel Murfin – who now works for Kinesys / TAIT Group after previously being the head of programming at the National Theatre in London – LightStrike makes it possible to precisely track actors and objects with a light in up to three dimensions using OSC / UDP-enabled consoles and sACN-controlled rigs .
“ I knew the show was going to need to embrace technology in a completely seamless way . I ’ ve always wanted to be able to stick someone on a revolve and have that go any speed while having the light follow them . This was the show where that was quite obviously going to happen because there are all sorts of things going on , where you realize that that line is going to be set at 12 o ’ clock and finished at six o ’ clock . So therefore , someone is riding the revolve speed manually . Although there are followspots on the show , but how do I manage to follow that with the rest of the rig ? So , I approached a friend of mine , Daniel Murfin ,” Austin says . “ I said to him , ‘ Okay , there was a show years ago where a projector only projected onto the bit of the glass as it moved across stage . What about doing that for a light ?”
Murfin ’ s immediate response was , “ You ’ re crazy , that ’ s not possible .”
“ But then he called me back three nights later going , ‘ I haven ’ t slept but I thought of a way of doing it !’ He developed that and then I said , ‘ Well okay , we know we ’ re using these specific motors . So , can you take the positional data from that and convert that into something where the lights understand where something is hanging on a motor ?’ And he said ‘ arrggg !’ and then three days later called back up , ‘ So , I haven ’ t had any sleep , but yes .’ Eventually that all developed and it was pretty early software version used in London . During the London rehearsal period , I persuaded him to do the most difficult of all , which was to now do that in three dimensions so that wherever something is within three dimensions suspended from three or four motors , you can follow it with the lights .”
The creation of LightStrike was essential for The Cursed Child , given the complexity and pace of the show and the limited tech time . It ’ s really only because of LightStrike that the show can pull off the illusions that it does , with many of them happening in quick succession and involving a lot of movement . For instance , during one particularly dark and dramatic