Please Be Upstanding for Longevity!

Tim Boyd, Technical Manager, Oxford Playhouse with some of his RJ fixtures

Ambersphere Solutions Ltd became Robert Juliat’s new UK distributor in early June and only days later found themselves exhibiting their new brand at London’s ABTT show. “And what a successful show it was,” says O’Donoghue. “ABTT has always been a favourite UK networking event with the back stage fraternity, and a meeting on our stand with Tim Boyd, the Technical Manager at The Oxford Playhouse, was a typical illustration why!”

“We’ve been long term users of Robert Juliat lanterns,” said Boyd. “When I first came to the Playhouse the need to refresh the house lighting system was all too apparent. I applied immediately for Lottery funding, yet it was not until my second application for funding in late 1997 that we secured sufficient funds to completely re-equip.

“We purchased over one hundred Robert Juliat lights including profiles, 1.2kW Fresnels and a dozen 2kWs. Fifteen years later every one of them is still with us and they are all good as new - in fact, I still think of them that way! They are the best lights you can get, they were then and they still are today. We maintain ours every year and if you keep that up they will not let you down. They are such a pleasure to use, and in my opinion there isn’t another Fresnel on the market worth looking at: it doesn’t burn out colour, it doesn’t leak light, and the barn doors are really, really good. We will have to replace them one day, most probably as EU regulations oblige us to engage fully with LED sources, but from what I’ve seen coming that could easily be Robert Juliat once again.”

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“To hear feedback like this is very satisfying,” says O’Donoghue. “Since we secured representation for Robert Juliat we’ve been running a series of open days across the country. We’ve been showing products from the Robert Juliat range at venues like the RSC and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. The reaction has been amazing; we knew these lanterns were revered in the theatre world but we were still taken by surprise.”

“We are really proud that Ambersphere recognises Robert Juliat for our high-quality lighting solutions and has chosen to work with us,” says Robert Juliat Sales Director, Claus Spreyer. “We are very happy to support our UK partner in making this a durable, successful partnership.”

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