Shaftesbury Theatre 2016

The Shaftesbury Theatre in London is the largest independent theatre in the West End. The venue recently extended its fly tower, increasing both the height and loading capacity. This valuable addition to the Grade II listed theatre will ensure the venue is more capable of accommodating large scale productions, particularly musicals. To help facilitate the refurbishment, Unusual Rigging was engaged on each of the three phases of the construction process.
Unusual:
 

• facilitated the complexities of placing four piled bases to the steel columns that would be fixed through the building
• modified the stage installation to allow for the positioning of the four columns through the stage house
• manufactured and wove the complex steel columns through the stage house, creating a temporary grid below the theatre's original 1911 grid and diverted the flying system to this temporary arrangement
• demolished the temporary structure following the creation of the new grid, as well as any remaining structure associated with the original grid
• laid out and reconnected the flying system to the existing counterweight cradles.