Historic Stage Lighting Collective

  • Home
  • Historic Stage Lighting Collective

Historic Stage Lighting Collective We are a nonprofit organisation working towards an immersive museum and demo theatre.

HSLC are a heritage group dedicated to bringing together individuals who share a love for preserving, restoring and using stage lighting equipment that spans 170 years. The Historical Stage Lighting Collective (HSLC) was founded in early 2023 by a group of enthusiasts united by their shared passion for pre-LED stage lighting and the rich experiences it evokes. We are a heritage organisation dedica

ted to the collection, preservation, and restoration of historic stage lighting equipment. Our growing archive, based in Suffolk, houses an extensive array of lighting technologies spanning multiple eras. But unlike a traditional museum, HSLC is a working, hands-on space—where historical techniques are not only displayed but actively explored, tested, and documented. The site includes a curated literature archive, a model theatre, and a dedicated demonstration space designed to support the creation of Colour Music - a captivating technique that interprets musical narratives through sequenced lighting in an evocative theatrical setting. At HSLC, we honour legacy by rigging, illuminating, and operating vintage equipment in context—examining its historical significance, its contemporaries, and the productions it once served. Through this active engagement, we are building a living collection: one that is not only preserved but understood, celebrated, and recognised for its enduring contribution to the art of stagecraft.

Something new is on the way to the HSLC website: HSLC Collection Notes.The first note focuses on the Patt. 152 and the p...
09/03/2026

Something new is on the way to the HSLC website: HSLC Collection Notes.

The first note focuses on the Patt. 152 and the post-war Strand effects projection lineage, looking at the development of these projectors and their place in British theatre practice, while also touching on the wider scenic projection world around them.

More soon at thehslc.org.uk

🚨News Update🚨We’re pleased to share an important update from the Historic Stage Lighting Collective.Following constructi...
26/02/2026

🚨News Update🚨

We’re pleased to share an important update from the Historic Stage Lighting Collective.

Following constructive discussions with the Backstage Heritage Collection and White Light, ownership of the historic stage-lighting artefacts forming the display at White Light (SW19) has formally transferred to HSLC.

HSLC has also entered into a Hosting and Collaborative Display Agreement with White Light, a d&b solutions Company, ensuring the collection continues to be displayed within White Light’s active working environment.

White Light retains its own historic display equipment, which remains alongside the collection.

We are continuing positive discussions with BHC toward a structured collaborative partnership, aligning HSLC’s physical stewardship with BHC’s respected digital work, including the Theatrecrafts platform.

Our thanks to both organisations for their constructive and professional approach.

Further updates to follow.

For more information visit our website: thehslc.org.uk

🚨 HSLC News Update 🚨For any enquiries, please visit our contact page at thehslc.org.uk
04/02/2026

🚨 HSLC News Update 🚨
For any enquiries, please visit our contact page at thehslc.org.uk

29/12/2025

✨ Southwold URC Christmas Tree Festival ✨
The church asked HSLC to create stars and moving clouds across their ceiling — a beautiful challenge we were delighted to take on. Using refurbished Strand lanterns with modern LED and CMH sources, we achieved bright, safe, long‑running projection from just two 13A sockets.

Revd. David Bradburn aligned the Star in the East perfectly over the Nativity, which we lit simply with ETC ColourSource LEDs. Festoon lights around the gallery completed the atmosphere.

Twelve trees, twelve charities, and a church full of Christmas light.
We were glad to help — Merry Christmas! 🎄

Strong Super Trouper Followspot, 1974Built by Strong Electric of Omaha, Nebraska, the Super Trouper was one of the most ...
20/12/2025

Strong Super Trouper Followspot, 1974
Built by Strong Electric of Omaha, Nebraska, the Super Trouper was one of the most famous carbon arc followspots of its era. Projectionists recognised its lamphouse design from cinema projectors of the 1940s, while audiences worldwide knew its name from ABBA’s hit song Super Trouper. This 115‑volt example likely began life in the United States, where its brilliant beam may have illuminated countless stars on stage and screen

19/12/2025

🎄 From all of us at the Historic Stage Lighting Collective (HSLC), we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a bright, hopeful New Year! ✨

As we look back on the past 12 months, we’re truly grateful for your support, encouragement, and shared passion for preserving our theatrical heritage.
Your enthusiasm keeps this community shining — thank you for being part of our story.

Wishing you peace, joy, and a wonderfully illuminated festive season.

We will be launching our website soon. In the meantime, you can visit us at thehslc.org.uk. If you wish to contact us an...
08/09/2025

We will be launching our website soon. In the meantime, you can visit us at thehslc.org.uk. If you wish to contact us and find out more about what we do, please fill out the online contact form.

07/03/2025

Join us Historic Stage Lighting Collective (HSLC)

01/01/2025

Thank you for supporting us during 2024!

We follow last year’s Profile cutaways with a Fresnel from the early 1960s which is still on many lighting inventories. ...
31/08/2024

We follow last year’s Profile cutaways with a Fresnel from the early 1960s which is still on many lighting inventories. Nothing ever did the job better, although some attempts were made with smaller lenses (this is a lovely GEC 10" lens**) and brighter lamps. Modelled subliminally on a television theme, the Strand Electric Pattern 243 was a world apart from the makeshift Pattern 143 which preceded it.

The 243 was Strand’s first 2K Fresnel, the first big light with rotating barndoors, available with polestar remote focusing, useful for TV and opera alike. So robust that, 50 years on, many Pattern 243s are still soldiering on. For further information please visit www.theatrecrafts.com/bhc/

The lamp is a rare survivor, a CP12 2KW globe (pre-halogen) from the 1960s. Look inside (don’t touch!) and you will see some iron filings sitting in the bottom of the glass. Part of the LX maintenance was to periodically swill them round the inside of the glass, to clean off the carbon deposits. **A lighting aside; I maintain that, because a 10" diameter lens is roughly the size of a human head, the light falling on a face from a 243 is softer than from, say, a Cantata with a smaller lens area. (Jim Laws)

The third contribution by HSLC to Classic Gear Live is the CCT Colorsette Semaphore 24 volt colour system from 1981. Thi...
31/08/2024

The third contribution by HSLC to Classic Gear Live is the CCT Colorsette Semaphore 24 volt colour system from 1981. This is a link between the 1930s fixed FOH installations of colour changers by Strand Electric and the later DMX / stepper motor Scroller systems which gave greater colour choices and fast referencing.
With the colourful control pad, a complex colour change could be set up in advance of the cue point and there was a possible 10 colour choice, allowing for subtractive colour combinations. Designed to slot onto CCT standard colour runners, the back plate could be altered for other profiles or Fresnels.

We have chosen a CCT Turbo Sil 15-32 to show with this colour changer. This was symbolic of the forward thinking of the late 1980s, with its easily cleaned lenses and its compact lamphouse.

We are also showing, not pictured here, the much-loved CCT DMX colour wheel from c.1989 with its reed switching and logic circuitry. This prize-winning innovation enabled any of 5 colours to be controlled down a standard 3 wire XLR cable, via a fader on a DMX lighting desk, which gave the option of precise and integrated cuing. It is fitted to an earlier CCT Silhouette.

The Classic Gear Live PLASA stand promises a marvellous array of retro-kit; we are proud to make our contribution to a massive display, spearheaded as always by the redoubtable Rob Halliday.

Address

20 Merton Industrial Park Jubilee Way

SW19 3WL

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Historic Stage Lighting Collective posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

  • Want your museum to be the top-listed Museum?

Share