Over 200 fixtures have been delivered to the Vanemuine Teater in Tartu, Estonia’s lively second city and the country’s cultural and intellectual hub.

The deal – part of a much wider programme in which Robe luminaires have been supplied to all eight of Estonia’s state supported theatres as part of a major national lighting upgrade – involves a mix of LEDWash 1200, 600 and 300s, MMX Spots, DLX Spots and ROBIN 600 and 300E Spot and Washes.

Vanemuine, Estonia’s oldest theatre founded in 1870 by an amateur acting and singing organisation and named after the Estonian god of music and poetry, has three separate venues - The Big House, the Small House and the Harbour Teater (Sadamateater).

For many years, it has built a reputation for being at the cutting edge of European theatre and performance, with numerous acclaimed and ground-breaking productions staged against all manner of political and social landscapes!

This busy producing and receiving house is currently handling over 350 productions a year from September to May, encompassing all genres – drama, musicals, opera, dance shows, comedy, live music etc. It also produces numerous outdoor and off-site shows and events throughout the summer.

The specification for new lighting in all the theatres was compiled by Paavo Nõgene,  who at the time was Managing Director of Vanemuine and is now working in the Ministry of Culture. During the process, he consulted with Andres Sarv, Vanemuine’s current Head of Lighting and Margus Vaigur, Head of Lighting at Teater Endla in Parnu, another of the state supported venues. 

The requirement for the new equipment to be eco-friendly was right at the core of the document that went out to tender.

This was won by E&T, who proposed a package based on Robe’s latest technologies for the moving light elements. Over 500 Robes in total were delivered across all eight venues.

Vanemuine’s Big House now has over 100 new Robe moving lights in its 660 capacity auditorium, including 56 x LEDWash 1200s, 20 x MMX Spots, 10 x ROBIN 600E Spots, 24 x ROBIN 600E Washes, 24 CitySkape Xtremes – six of which are used to illuminate the front façade of the building – and two DigitalSpot 7000DTs.

In the first month of the Robe’s being installed, they clocked up a saving of 88% in the electricity consumed for stage lighting … which is impressive by any standards!

Having such a dynamic choice of fixtures available means the Big House can offer all visiting LDs a huge choice of tools to light any performance with style and panache. For their own LDs, it greatly expands the creative scope of the work they can produce … as well as speeding up the time needed to achieve good results.

The Harbour Teater features a picturesque location alongside the Emajŏgi River and is a fully flexible ‘black-box’ space that can be configured in several formats and accommodate around 250 audience.

It now has 30 new Robe moving lights including eight DLX LED Spots, 12 LEDWash 600s, eight LEDWash 300s and two CitySkape Xtremes.

Chief LX Jaanus Moor appreciates using the new kit on the shows that he also lights. Like Andres Sarv, he has worked with Robe products before when they were hired in as specials and additions for the summer and other shows, and he likes the reliability, and on the new LED fixtures, the tungsten emulation effects. These are perfect for any theatrical applications.

Lighting in the Small House, a beautiful 300 capacity Art Nouveau style building further up the hill from the Big House, is run by Imbi Mälk who has received 40 new Robes including ROBIN 600E and 300E Spots and Washes and LEDWash 600s and 300s.

She lights the vast majority of the shows playing in there and loves the colour ranges, gobos and the flexibility they bring to the venue.

In the same building as the Big House is the 950 seater Concert Hall which is run as a completely separate entity. In here the new kit includes 24 x LEDWash 1200s, 14 ROBIN 600E Spots and six CitySkape Xtremes.

The overall project of 500 plus fixtures represents the biggest single supply to date in Robe’s history.