This is typically Birmingham centric post, mainly because I actually live in Birmingham…

For years there’s been an arts centre in Birmingham called The Mac aka The Midlands Arts Centre.  About a year and a half ago The Mac closed for the multi-million pound refit and rebuild.  They basically knocked the building down and started again I have some photographs somewhere I tool while it was being rebuilt.  Admittedly it did need a refit, it was showing it’s age; it was built in the 60′s, so you can imagine that it needed some work.

During my youth I spent many an evening helping out and graduated to Lighting Technician for the youth theatre, replaying this role a few years later as Technical Manager for Shooting Stars, a production by Paula Wharton.  Don’t get me wrong I loved the place in previous form, a lot of technical equipment was entirely outdated and needed some work.

The dimmers were kooky and often shorted out during performances but you knew the foibles, how to keep it going and what to do if it stopped working.   These were things you lived with.

But they closed the place did it up and made it worse.  They’ve effectively ruined the atmosphere of the place, it’s simply not the same as it was!

The technical for the Hexagon theatre is extremely limited, favouring a non DMX system, using Zero 88 24/2KW Beta Packs (unless you’re a techie you won’t understand that).  Add this to the extremely high hiring cost, you have to wonder if anyone will actually use it.  I don’t think we will again.  It’s just too limited.

From a technical point of view, these days you need DMX Tie lines to the stage, otherwise there’s a very limited scope.

I hope The Mac one day realises this.