For this version of Cats, the lighting director and programmer was David Totaro. When Splitbeam CEO Alistair Kilbee suggested using iFORTES to provide powerful front and back lighting, both Totaro and Howard agreed and were happy to work with these fixtures.
When Splitbeam knew they would be supplying lighting for the tour, and it was decided that—given the duration of the tour—investment was the way to go, the company’s head of lighting, Mathew Lewis, started evaluating all available options before presenting his recommendations to Alistair.
Mathew explained that they saw this as an opportunity to invest in a new round of luminaires, ideally looking for fixtures that would be robust, flexible and future proof. In this regard, Robe’s iFORTES ticked all the boxes.
The luminaires were delivered by South Africa’s highly enthusiastic distributor, DWR Distribution, in time for the prep for Cape Town.
The company already has 48 x Robe ESPRITE Fresnels, purchased in 2025 with the HCF (High Colour Fidelity) LED engines installed, together with a set of HP (High Power) transferable engines—ready for swapping out according to show requirements—and a set of PC lenses to offer a choice of ESPRITE Fresnels or PCs. They also have 22 x Tetra2s, which, together with the ESPRITES, have been constantly working and proved rock solid, so there was already plenty of logic and good experience leading them back to Robe.
This, combined with the power and quality of light offered by the iFORTES, cemented the belief that this was the best option. “International LDs are generally happy to work with Robe products”, noted Alistair, so when the Cats creative team indicated that this was also the case, the decision was confirmed.
In terms of high-powered long throw fixtures, we think iFORTE is the best available right now, especially in colour and output quality, commented Mathew.
He added that, looking ahead to the fixtures’ lifespan beyond the Cats tour, and as part of the Gearhouse South Africa (GHSA) Group—which has also already invested in ESPRITES and a huge amount of other Robe fixtures both historically and recently for their busy event, show, concert and festival schedule—it made sense to align brand-wise and widen the group-wide stock holding.
Alistair further highlighted that iFORTES are ideal for pairing with GHSA’s RoboSpot systems, which are appearing more and more frequently on riders and technical specifications. He added that, among all the remote follow systems available, in South Africa they like the idea of a system that still has flexibility, control and a human operator at the core.
For the Cats shows in South Africa, the iFORTES were positioned on the balcony rails and on front and rear trusses. From these positions, they provided key lighting, specials and effects.
Photos: Chris Duys
