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Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club takes Ayrton Rivale Profiles “Into The Woods”

Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club’s production of the Stephen Sondheim classic “Into The Woods” was performed in March 2026 at the ADC Theatre in Cambridge. The Lent term musical is the highlight of the ADC Theatre year, and the most demanding project in its repertoire.

“Into The Woods” is a fast-moving melange of the Grimms’ Fairy Tales of “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Rapunzel” and “Cinderella”, and the English tale of “Jack and the Beanstalk”. It starts as a light-hearted piece that follows the characters in their search to make their wishes come true, but transfigures into a darker tale in Act II that reflects the consequences of such actions.

The show requires a big stage for the large cast and a multitude of locations, but the ADC Theatre stage measures just 8 m x 6 m and the set never changes, so it was the job of lighting designers Angus Cha and Eloise Davis to convey the different parts of the forest and changes in mood with lighting.

To achieve this, the duo used Ayrton Rivale Profiles as their moving lights on the recommendation of Ayrton’s Briony Berning. “We needed a fixture that was compact yet powerful because the grid is so small but the demands of the production called for ultimate versatility”, says Davis. “We requested Ayrton Rivale or Stradale Profiles for their size, and found the Rivale Profiles to be punchy, powerful fixtures which fitted in very neatly.”

“For Act I we focused on the whimsical, comedic aspect of the play, using bold, block colours and bright ‘sunlight’ to create the unreal world of the conventional fairy story”, explains Cha. “We picked our palette to reflect the set and costumes, and had fun creating a big bold burst of colour as the cast first enters the forest, setting the tone for the whole act.”

“The lighting was very ‘front on’, compared to Act II when we introduced greater contrast, more muted colours and lots of textures to make the Woods seem threatening and confusing”, continues Cha. “Rivale’s colour palette gave us all we needed in terms of the saturated and subtle colours for the full range of moods and locations we wanted to represent.”

Most of the Rivale Profiles were used as top light, rigged asymmetrically on the grid to force unconventional lighting angles. Another two Rivale Profiles set on the floor in the downstage wings provided strong side light which helped avoid plain front light and enhanced sunset and dawn effects. The remainder were rigged downstage for face light or upstage for back light and gobo effects.

“We could make full use of the gobos to create the many dappled effects and textures that were vital to the show’s ambience, especially in Act II where we could play with shadows and give the impression of the cast moving through a forest that was much bigger than our actual set”, says Davis. “The lighting positions gave us plenty of options to focus in on specific areas or widen out to encompass the whole stage and direct the audience’s attention in a subtle way, changing the landscape with light.”

“A lot of our design relied on delivering a sense of movement which we did using live positional changes to track characters across the stage, transporting them from one ‘location’ to another”, confirms Cha. “It is quite unusual to have live movement for moving lights in theatre, but worked well. The effect really enhanced the sense of changing location in a static set.”

“Another fun but significant part of the show was how to portray the approach of the giant’s footsteps”, notes Davis. “We used Rivale’s ‘gobo shake’ feature, and gradually focused down on the cowering group of characters while increasing the intensity of the shake - the effect was superb and very dramatic.”

“Productions like this are fun and important, nurturing the talents of the lighting designers of the future”, concludes Berning. “It was my absolute pleasure to support Angus, Eloise and their team and look forward to seeing their future productions. They have a bright future ahead of them.”

Alongside Cha and Davis, the “Into The Woods” team included director Toby Trusted, musical director Collier Ow, producer Eva Ilieva, technical director Jenna Braban, set designer Abigail Lemans, costume designer Edith Howe, puppet designer Nina Winstone, and sound designer Reuben Karas.

(Photos: Anna Gungaloo)

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