Performing arts big hitter takes to the stage as college group hosts state-of-the-art demo day

One of the world’s leading lights in visual arts will visit the University Professional Development Centre on Western Way in Bury St Edmunds on Wednesday, 28 May 2025.

ROBE UK is a major global lighting manufacturer.

Between 13:00 and 17:00, they will host a demonstration day in association with Conservatoire East at West Suffolk College and Eastern Education Group to showcase advances in their technology.

The event will be a chance for students, industry and education to network and try out new equipment.

There will also be a focus on sustainability, as the technology on show is designed to support the plan for all theatres to use LED products instead of the more traditional tungsten lighting by 2030.

Avolites UK and Artistic Licence will also be in attendance.

Tim Westerman is the Sound and Lighting Technical Advisor for the Eastern Education Group. He has recently overseen major Conservatoire East productions of The Tempest, which employed spatial audio from Timax/Panlab UK, a resource which university students often only encounter in their third year of their degrees, and Nine to Five the musical in recent weeks, finishing a 22-show year since September across the region. Tim said: “We have three internationally known companies who are some of the big names in the industry visiting us here in Bury St Edmunds, which is huge and something not many 16–18-year-olds get the chance to experience for free in East Anglia, let alone the country”

“The industry is crying out for young, bright technicians at the moment, with many from the course going on to study at RADA, Royal Central School, Guildhall and LAMDA, with others going on to be technical managers of London-based theatre. three years after finishing their degree”

“I think people should come along as it’s a chance to engage with state-of-the-art theatre technology in a space outside of London and ask the question which you don’t get the chance to at large trade shows”

“This occasion takes place a week before the Association of British Theatre Technicians’ major exhibition in London this June – so it’s a chance for people from this region to see the latest equipment ahead of this massive national event without the associated costs of travelling to the capital.”