ETC Congo® jr: a perfect fit for Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 || ETC

One of Poland’s most famous buildings, the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, had its sixth floor theater renovated with the help of ETC equipment. The building, which was a gift to the people of Poland from Russia 50 years ago, includes a number of theaters, museums and offices, and was for two years the tallest building in Europe.

ETC’s Polish distributor Prolight installed a Congo jr control desk and 144 channels of SmartPack® dimming in the theater, which, according to its founder and director, Michal Zebrowski, promises to be a ‘theater without exclusion.’ Uncommon for Poland, the theater is privately owned and run – in this case, its founder is also a famous Polish actor.

Prolight’s sales director Radoslaw Zacheja says: “Congo is the most popular control desk in Poland, not just because it is easy to learn and use, but also because we translated the interface into Polish, making it the only desk that local technicians can program in their native language.

“The staff at the theater specified Congo jr because it is very similar to their previous desk, so they did not have to spend much time learning how to use the system. We provided a complete package, including lighting, the electrical network – which we based on Net3 – mechanics and truss.”

The theater had previously been designed exclusively for concerts, but the refurbishment with high-quality acoustic equipment makes it just as suitable for theater and conference facilities. The SmartPack dimming controls the houselights, with a connection to the Congo jr console so that the lighting operator can easily control both house and stage lights. The theatrical premiere – Woody Allen’s Play it Again, Sam – was held on March 6th.

Congo and Congo jr share the same operating system and style, with the major difference being the smaller footprint and reduced number of faders and controls on Congo jr. Optional fader wings provide additional faders for those who need them. Both offer extremely flexible options for go-button or live event "on-the-fly" playback styles – perfect for both theater and conference use.