ETC’s Republic of Ireland dealer Cine Electric has completed installation of two Eos control desks at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The Abbey Theatre – which is the national theatre of Ireland – was the first state-subsidised theatre in the English-speaking world and plays a range of dramas throughout the year both at its venue in central Dublin and across the country.
“We were looking around for a replacement for our old desks, which were becoming old and difficult for our suppliers to support,” said Dave Carpenter, deputy head of lighting and sound at the theatre. “Trying an Eos at ETC’s offices in London proved it to be a perfect replacement. It had a familiar programming syntax, making it really easy to learn.”
The theatre, which is the national theatre of Ireland, already had Cat 5 cabling installed, which meant that installation was as simple as plugging the desk into the gateways which Cine Electric installed around the venue.
“We tried a new desk from the same company which manufactured our original one, but even when it was being demonstrated, it crashed a number of times,” continued Carpenter. “Because we’ll be touring with the desk and need it to be absolutely reliable, that immediately meant we had to discount it. The Eos, on the other hand, has always been both stable and dependable.”
The Eos is the largest of ETC’s range of lighting control desks. ETC has also released two other desks which use a similar programming syntax. Ion is said to have the power of Eos but in a smaller footprint, while Element is specifically designed for smaller venues with a volunteer or non-professional operator.
