Stadsgehoorzaal Vlaardingen is located in the heart of the city. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the technical team has examined the product arsenal to see what was missing. In the end they decided that there had to be a more sustainable alternative to the gas discharge spotlights that had been in use for 15 years. After an extensive selection procedure, the Martin ERA 400 Performance was chosen. This fixture stood out with its full curtain framing system and light output.

Before the corona crisis, the team at the City Auditorium was occupied with the technical supervision of professional theater and dance performances on a daily basis. Since March of last year, they have switched to other things. For example, they offer the local government a place to hold coronaproof meetings, they host various livestreams for schools and companies and the main hall is used for informative lectures that can help residents of the city during this crisis.

"We are continuously adapting to new measures, which requires a lot of flexibility from all of us. Setting up livestreams for lectures is completely new territory for us. In order to share knowledge and expertise, we work together with local entrepreneurs. In that way we help each other out," said Danny Kipp, head of technology at the Stadsgehoorzaal. "When we were told last year that difficult months were coming up, we immediately started taking up maintenance work. We also started looking at what we were missing in our current range of fixtures. This is how the need arose to exchange our old spotlights for new ones." Alexander van Essen of Fairlight was asked to come up with a suitable solution. He introduced the men to Martin's ERA series and the choice for the ERA 400 was made. A fixture that on several levels fits perfectly with the characteristic elements of the over 200 year old theater.

"Until recently we used spotlights with gas discharge lamps, with an eye to the future we wanted to opt for a more sustainable option. The ERA 400 offers the extensive range of blades and the light output we were looking for. In addition, compactness was a requirement, the ERA 400 Performance is the most compact fixture in the ERA range, therefore it fits both in the small hall with a fixed grid, and in the large hall with a pull wall.", says Kipp. "What are we most looking forward to after the crisis? I now have my sights set on July. We are hopeful that we will be able to provide the elementary school children with a final musical again. We facilitated this as our last project last year, so it would be great if we could start with that. And then on to the new theater season!'' With the addition of the MAC ERA 400 Performance, the Stadgehoorzaal is all set to physically open its doors again.