New house lighting for two of South Australia's main stages.
Adelaide Festival Centre opened in 1973 as the home of South Australia's performing arts. The Festival Theatre is the largest proscenium arch theatre in Adelaide, seating close to 2,000 people over three levels.
Within the same complex, the Dunstan Playhouse seats up to 590 people across two levels and has been the main performance home of the State Theatre Company South Australia since 1974. The two venues provide a year-round program of drama, dance, music, and touring productions.
In late 2025 both theatres closed for a major refurbishment including new seating, fly system upgrades, and a full replacement of the auditorium lighting.
The original incandescent house lights drew a significant amount of power and required regular maintenance across hundreds of fittings. They were replaced with energy-efficient colour-mixing LED fittings and new architectural lighting control systems were installed in each theatre.
Completed
January 2026
Lighting Control
ETC Paradigm
Luminaires
Anolis Ambiane
Client
Adelaide Festival Centre
Designer
Eddie Galak
Installer
ITE
Programmer
Lux Imperium
Photos
Eddie Galak
Lux Imperium was engaged to commission and program the lighting control systems in both theatres.
Each theatre now features an ETC Paradigm architectural control system to control the house lights. The systems include a touchscreen and multiple button stations, with a mixture of fixed and portable button stations for increased flexibility. We ensured both theatres feature a common touchscreen interface which provides a unified experience for staff working across both spaces.
We added integration between the house light system and each theatre's production lighting console, allowing individual control over every fitting from the console. Visiting lighting designers can now incorporate the house lighting into their show.
Both theatres now run house lighting that costs less to operate, asks less of the maintenance team, and provides increased flexibility and creativity for every production.
