LD Nicolás Fischtel uses GLP’s dual-face moving head for theatre, contemporary dance and architectural lighting in Bacanal
Lighting designer Nicolás Fischtel (AAIV) deployed GLP’s TWYN dual-face moving heads for Bacanal at this year’s Festival Internacional de Teatro Clásico de Mérida in Extremadura, Spain. With lighting positions tightly restricted at the protected Roman Theatre of Mérida, every available position had to serve multiple purposes. “I needed a compact, lightweight and versatile luminaire that could carry out several jobs from the same position,” explains Fischtel, who was responsible for both lighting design and technical coordination on the production.
The festival celebrated its 72nd edition in 2026. Its open-air Roman Theatre dates back to 15 BC and is managed with particular care by the Consortium of the Monumental City of Mérida. The use of lighting equipment is closely regulated, with luminaires limited to designated positions.
Between spoken word and dance
Those restrictions were particularly significant for Bacanal. Directed and choreographed by Chevi Muraday, with text by Juan Carlos Rubio, the production combines spoken theatre and contemporary dance – two forms that called for distinctly different lighting approaches.
“The lighting had to swing between a more conventional approach to support the text sections and something more daring and less orthodox for the dance,” says Fischtel.
On the wash side of TWYN, the 3×3 RGBL array with its wide 4° to 53° zoom served primarily as stage backlight, moving from broad washes to tighter accents as required. The nine individually controllable zones and available macros gave Fischtel additional pixel-based options for the more dynamic dance passages.
Stage and monument from the same position
On TWYN’s JDC Burst 1-inspired reverse side, the RGBL LED plates were used to wash the Roman architecture behind the performers in colour. This was particularly important in Mérida, where the monumental scaenae frons – the historic stage façade behind the performers – is an integral part of the stage environment.
With both sides of TWYN operating simultaneously, Fischtel could use the wash as stage backlight while the LED plates illuminated the architecture behind it – all from the same restricted fixture positions.
Bacchanalia reimagined as electronic rave
TWYN’s third function came to the fore as Bacanal moved towards its finale. Referencing the Bacchanalia of Roman times, the production ends in a modern electronic music rave, where Fischtel says the fixtures displayed their full potential.
“The strobe provides great impact and plenty of power, with a large number of macros offering different effects that are easy to select,” he explains.
Across the production, wash, LED plates and strobe could be used independently or layered together, allowing the same fixtures to move from theatrical backlight and architectural illumination to pixel-based looks and high-impact strobe effects.
Fischtel was equally impressed by the physical performance of the dual-face moving head. “It is a very robust and compact fixture, with plenty of power in all its functions and very fast continuous pan and tilt,” he says.
Taking TWYN beyond concert and nightlife
Bacanal represents a distinctly different application from the concert and nightlife environments for which the dual-face moving head was originally conceived. In Mérida, its versatility translated seamlessly to theatre and contemporary dance – combining stage and architectural lighting from a single position and scaling all the way to the production’s electronic rave finale.
“GLP TWYN delivered with flying colours in every respect,” concludes Fischtel.
