Poland (October 21, 2015)—The Gdansk Shakespeare Theatre—the first drama theatre to be built in Poland in almost forty years—sports modern design and technology, not to mention a sizable d&b audiotechnik sound system.
Designed by Renatto Rizzi, an Italian architect and professor of the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice, the new venue is located on the site of a seventeenth century wooden playhouse known to have hosted fencing lessons, animal fights and theatrical performances from the early 1600s. The new theatre features an adaptable auditorium permits various stage configurations: a proscenium arch, or, more typical of the era, in-the-round; and with the only retractable theatre roof in the world, the venue can also transform into a traditional open air environment.
d&b distributor and local specialist Konsbud Audio was responsible for providing a technical solution to support the flexibility of the theatre. “Our engineers paid special attention to two aspects,” explained Piotr Jankiewicz, director of the Design and Integration Department at Konsbud. “First designing a mobile system to accommodate the various stage configurations, and second, to find a solution for the galleries that would ensure the audience on all three levels could comfortably hear the words of the actors, without putting too much emphasis on the sound reinforcement system.”
d&b T10s, with V-SUBs for the low end, comprise the main system, powered by D80 amplifiers. Explained Jankiewicz,“ The T10 loudspeakers can work both in line source mode and in point source mode, so the same loudspeakers can provide, during one performance, a line array system, and at another, they can be used individually as point sources for the purpose of sound reinforcement in the auditorium. Furthermore, the system can be freely reconfigured and adjusted to fit the needs of a specific play or performance, or, if necessary, completely dismantled.” For the audience seated in the galleries, small 4S loudspeakers are installed into the ceiling above each of the three levels, color matched and incorporated in special housings to integrate with the architecture inside the hall.
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