'Deceptively complex' rigging on A Little Life requires the Unusual touch

16th June 2023

“Deceptively complex” is the way production manager Lloyd Thomas best describes A Little Life. “Outwardly, the production seems quite straightforward but we needed an extremely competent crew on board to handle the rigging requirements of this play.

Cue Unusual Rigging. Having worked together on various other West End hits, Lloyd contracted the Unusual team to take care of the rigging elements of what critics are calling ‘the theatrical event of 2023’! A Little life is currently enjoying a successful run at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London’s West End, having transferred there from the Richmond Playhouse in early spring. It is schedules to move to the Savoy Theatre in July and will hit the big screen in September, such is its popularity.

Lloyd explained: “As well as the rigging elements, Unusual worked closely with Foys for performer flying and Absolute Motion Control for the automation of a large scenic piece. Both Richmond at The Harold Pinter have fairly limited grid capacity, with Richmond’s grid in particular, being challenging in terms of access. It quickly became apparent that the best approach was to install a truss mother grid below the theatre grid. This limited the amount and complexity of work within the theatre grid and sped up the load in time – which was vital as time was extremely limited. The performer flying winch was on a truss above the mother grid, which housed the AMC winches for the automated scenic piece and sub-hung trusses for lighting and video.

As well as the design, supply and install of this, Lloyd  also asked Unusual to be responsible for collating all payloads, considering the required safety factors and dynamic loads for the performer flying and automation, producing a report showing loads back to the venue grid. Unusual then continued to assist in the process of getting this signed off by the structural engineers and the venue management.

“The input on the structural engineering sign off has been invaluable, as has Unusual’s willingness to collaborate and to work directly with other contractors i.e. Foys and Absolute Motion Control. Absolute used the facilities at Unusual’s HQ in Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire, to pre-fit their winches to the mother truss, which really helped the efficiency of the load in to Richmond.”

Lloyd is optimistic that A Little Life’s transfer to the Savoy Theatre should be a less stressful experience. “Thankfully the Savoy should be simpler than the previous two venues. This is in part thanks to the “mother grid” approach, as well as the fact that the Savoy grid has a much higher capacity and is easier to work in. Once again, Unusual has pulled it out of the bag and the entire experience of working with the team has been a pleasurable one.”