Unusual provides the Swan Theatre in Stratford Upon Avon with state of the art grid

1st March 2023

Unusual Rigging was the contractor of choice to supply a new grid for The Royal Shakespeare Company’s multi million pound refurbishment of the Swan Theatre in Stratford Upon Avon, which is soon set to re-open.
 
The curtain will rise  for the first time in the renovated venue, with a production of Hamnet, a new play based on Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel, adapted by award-winning playwright Lolita Chakrabarti (Life of Pi, Red Velvet, Hymn). This will be directed by Erica Whyman and designed by Tom Piper.
 
The theatre began its multimillion pound refurbishment project back in 2019, but with planning delayed due to the pandemic, work only began on site in March 2022.
 
Ben Ranner, head of technical resources at the Swan said: “By the time we open with Hamnet in April, every single item that staff or audiences interact with will have been worked on in some way or another.”
 
This includes a brand-new grid for the theatre, designed and delivered by Unusual rigging. Ben explained: “Unusual Rigging has a fantastic reputation for delivery of projects in ways that other contractors wouldn’t consider – certainly when speaking to industrial steel erectors, they were less forthcoming to find solutions which would deliver what we needed without major intervention and disruption across the wider building. Unusual’s Mike Goodwin and Simon Tiernan worked with us and our engineering consultants from Buro Happold to deliver a solution which not only allowed for a flexible and rapid approach to our ongoing work, but that could be delivered in such a way as to not disrupt the wider work of the theatre.”
 
Unusual’s work at the theatre began in August 2022. “The Swan, despite being a relatively new building, had no capacity for rigging in the roof. This meant that the venue was severely limited in terms of what it could do,” said Mike.
 
Ben added: “The new grid changes our approach substantively, allowing for most of our production work to happen at ground level and for lighting, sound, video, etc. to be lifted to height reducing risk and increasing productivity. The loads the grid provides means that set pieces and flown elements can now have a greater range of option not only in its physical nature, but how we choose to do certain effects or actions into the future.”
 
One of the main challenges of the project was the restricted site – a relatively small get-in into a listed building with conservation orders in place for many of its internal structures, meant the team had to find a way not only to load in the beams, but also to lift them to height and assemble them without being able to lift them from above. This was no mean feat. “The beams were absolutely massive,” said Ben. “Our primary beams are over 700m deep and weigh around 2 tonne.”
 
To overcome this, Unusual installed a working platform measuring 18m x 18m and 12 metres from floor level. The truss for the platform was built on the floor and then flown up and landed on the technical gallery level. This not only allowed for the 10m long beams to be lifted up using Unusual’s own lifting rigs but came with the benefit that other contractors could work beneath the platform with minimal interruption.”
 
Mike added: “We also had to ensure that the structural implications of introducing a rated grid were accounted for within the envelope of the building, which was overseen by the structural engineers, Buro Happold, who did a great job.”
 
“The end result is a new grid that should last The Swan a very long time, allowing us to add elements on a show by show or season by season basis, giving us a huge amount of flexibility and future proofing of the structure”, said Ben.
 
The first production to make use of the new grid will be ‘Hamnet’, a new play based on Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling novel, adapted by award-winning playwright Lolita Chakrabarti (Life of Pi, Red Velvet, Hymn). This will be directed by Erica Whyman and designed by Tom Piper.
 
Ben concluded: “Unusual were a joy to work with as they understood that the project was to be operationally led, and that finding a solution to challenges we encountered had to be driven in this way. We worked with Mike on the preparation of the work and with Simon running the site and installation.  Every member of the team was professional, friendly, and approachable – they were a real credit to Unusual Rigging and to themselves, and we look forward to the opportunity to work with them again soon (hopefully).”