An 11am get-in and a 7.30pm performance leaves a touring company with a busy day ahead. When the programme includes three contrasting dance works, automated lighting, sound and projection, the technical setup needs to be planned around that timetable.
For Srishti’s Play Ball, that was the brief behind our work across a two-year tour: give an ambitious production the technical support it needed, in a system that could be operated by one technician.
The tour reached its final date at Universal Hall in Findhorn on 4 November 2026, bringing together two years of work taking the show to venues around the country.
Three pieces one touring system
Created by choreographer Nina Rajarani MBE, Play Ball brings together three works exploring love, football and the working world: Kadala… Is it love?, Bend it… and QUICK!, with music composed by Y Yadavan.
Each piece has its own character. Supporting that variety meant thinking about the whole evening, from the look of each work to the practical business of getting the production ready in a new venue.
QUICK! also carries a particular history. The original work won Nina Rajarani the Place Prize in 2006, the choreography competition at The Place in London. Play Ball includes a reworked version of that award-winning piece.
Design and delivery together
Acquis Media provided the lighting and technical design for this tour. Through our AV Heroes brand, we supplied the equipment and technical staff to put that design on stage.
That connection between design and delivery was central to the project. We could plan the creative requirements alongside the practical demands of touring, with automated lighting, sound and projection brought together in a system designed specifically for the show.
The aim was straightforward: make a complicated production simple to run.
A single technician could operate the show, helping the company work within limited get-in times, typically arriving at 11am for a 7.30pm performance. The technical approach was built around those real touring conditions from the outset.
The final stop
Findhorn was the last stop in a much longer story. Across two years, our work combined the creative design of Acquis Media with the equipment and staffing supplied through AV Heroes, supporting Srishti as Play Ball travelled around the country.
It is a good example of what designing for a tour involves: understanding the performance, the people running it and the time available in each venue, then bringing those requirements together in a system that works for the company.