Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1975 - 30

ful lighting fixtures they have to be willing to spend
more money for them. Secondly, the manufacturer who
has worked hard to create and develop a new and interesting product and finds that he is not selling it, may soon
tu rn to manufacturing a cheaper quality product so that
he can win the contract he is seeking. The loser, I assure
you, is the customer! As the profit margins of the manufacturer are continually squeezed, the money allocated for
research and development also gets squeezed. The net
result is that nothing new is made available for the theatre, because no one is willing to spend the money to
develop it.
If we wish to see progress in the development of lighting equipment for the theatre, then we must change our
attitudes. We must, first of all, become better informed as
users. We must be aware of what we require in the theatre
and specify a standard that is truly required. It is neither
practical nor economically wise to specify equipment in
excess of such a standard. On the other hand, it is not
wise to allow or tolerate equipment that is below that
standard. We must take a more realistic attitude toward
the allocation of funds for equipment. If we have considered carefully and decided that certain performance
requirements are necessary, then we should insist that
those requirements be met and we must be willing to pay
for them. We should be sure that the equipment slJpplied
meets those performance standards, and that means that
we must be able to measure whatwe specify.
Dimming equipment has come a long way but there is
still more progress to be made, perhaps not so much in
terms of capability and capacity but certainly in terms of
economic efficiency. Specifications for the performance
of the dimmer, for instance, often include a rise time that
no user has the equipment or the ability to measure so
it is never measu red once the equ ipment is installed in
the theatre. Why are specifications made for quality levels
that cannot be met, and for a quality level that the user
cannot measure? If you have no ability to measure the
performance or to judge it - why is it in the specification? It would only increase the cost to manufacture the
equipment or encourage unscrupulous people to supply
equipment that does not meet the specifications. The
theatre technician must become more knowledgeable in
the lab procedures of testing the performance of dimmers. He must also become more discerning in his requirements. For instance, is the modular plug-in dimmer
still required in theatre today? After all, we have come a
long way from the first fragile SCR's commercially introduced in 1959. What should the proper rise time
be for practical application in theatre to minimize noise
levels, yet not increase the cost of the manufactu re of
the equipment beyond that which is necessary? vVhat
kind of reasonable maintenance should be expected
by the user?
The hard facts are that in a very small dollar volume
industry here in the United States there are some thirty
manufacturers of lighting and dimming equipment. Far
too many for the size of the industry. At first look we
might think this was nice from a competitive point of
view and that the user was gaining from it. Quite to the

WINTER,1975

contrary, the small amount of money available for
theatrical lighting equipment is divided among too many
companies, few of which develop significant market
strength or sufficient capital to undertake unique research and development. In the theatrical lighting
industry few companies have the financial strength
to provide good service or product innovation. Perhaps
this is one of the reasons why fixture development in
the industry has remained so stagnant.
Glamour seems to attract many people into the industry. There is not much we can do about the number
of competitors. However, what does the user do to contribute to this problem? The user seems to be willing to
buy his equipment from any manufacturer without
qualifying that manufactu rer's abil ity to provide the
equipment to the standards required or, for that matter, whether the manufacturer has the financial capability to handle the size of the job.
When I first started in this industry I remember one
of the first large systems the company I worked for bid
on and lost. It was a £175,000 contract. Our bid was
significantly higher and we lost it to a small, new company. My sales manager said "Good", quite to my surprise, "although we have lost the job, that will put them
out of business at that price." And his words were a
prophesy, for indeed the company has long since gone.
The university had a "very interesting system" often
referred to as an "orphan". Many years later it had to
be rebuilt at great expense to the university. Why was
this small company, without the capital or staff sufficient to back such a large undertaking, allowed to enter
into this contract?
This is not an argument for buying only from giant
companies. There is danger here, too. Large companies
are usually looking for large markets. They soon get
disinterested in tiny markets and demanding lighting
technicians. Products introduced with great fanfare and
promotion are soon dropped and once again we are faced
with the "orphan". The point is that you must select a
supplier that fits the job in temperment and capability,
both financially and technically.
New Constructed Lamps
Lamps of various kinds
that will consume their own smoke, and at
the option of the Buyer, can be made to give
a light equal to three, six or one hundred
Candles; Made and Sold by
Joseph Howe
TIN PLATE WORKER, near the Mill Bridge
(an advertisement in a Boston newspaper 1787)

Why is it that in our industry we are willing to buy
a product from anybody and anyone who makes any
kind of claim, and so often are frustrated and disappointed when these claims don't come true? Certainly,
economy is an important factor and any good pu rchasing agent will want as many bids as possible from "qualified" companies. We must learn to look deeper into our
sources of supply. What is the strength of the company?
What are the services it offers? How much engineering and
technical backup does it have? What is the availability of

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

USITT

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1975