An impressive array of high-profile Polish and international speakers and influencers ensured there was plenty of buzz and interest in the diverse programme that explored multiple topics and themes all related to stage presentation, scenography, dramaturgy, theatricality, and expression over 50 separate sessions. Debates, discussions and presentations focused on how new and developing technologies – from the latest lighting fixtures and sound systems to VR, real-time visual tools remote tracking and AI – might affect the future creation of emotional experiences for audiences and guests.

Scena Jutra president Rafal Rzeczkowski was delighted. “The line-up of industry professionals willing to give up their time to be here was impressive, and the number of registrants and attendees exceeded our expectations,” he stated.

He also explained how for this 5th edition, the scope of Scena Jutra was broadened to attract more brands, organisations, and marketing specialists from the corporate sphere.

“We wanted to add diversity to the mix because all of these basic theatrical disciplines – from the storytelling to the emotional impact of live performance and installation art – is integral to the impact and reach of successful commercial and business events and brand activations. It is interesting to see how all the ideas, skills and technology of theatre, television and live shows can combine to make a whole range of events stand out!”

Rafal added that they were “thrilled” for Robe to be their gold sponsor again! The manufacturer has supported and encouraged Stage of Tomorrow from the start and sees its relevance and value.

Robe CEO Josef Valchar agreed, “This is a fantastic place to network and meet people from all areas of the industry and beyond. We have engaged with everyone from distinguished practitioners to many young next gen industry professionals, and it was impressive to also see international delegates in addition to the speakers who came and joined in the discussions and debates!”

Josef noted that it was important for Robe to show support for Polish distributor Prolight during challenging times “and appreciate the great job they are doing generally.”

Scena Jutra was an ideal forum for Robe to showcase its latest theatre, TV and performance orientated ranges of LED moving and static lights, which have been carefully developed and evolved over the last 10 years to meet the exacting demands of these sectors. These are now leading the charge for getting modern LED lighting technologies specified into some of the more classical spaces!

Joining Josef in Warsaw was Robe’s international sales director Ingo Dombrowski, key account manager for Europe Michel Arntz, business development manager Bram de Clerk and theatre product specialist Dave Whitehouse.

“We wanted to have a strong team at an exceptional event,” noted Ingo who has attended all five Scena Jutras so far. “Everyone connected to theatre and performance is here, plus people in television and many at the forefront of design and technology. The integration with other disciplines and the emphasis on how new technologies can influence and assist designs of the future really makes this event unique.”

Scena Jutra is indeed a melting pot of visual designers, content creators, technicians, geeks and anyone remotely interested in the power and future of the performance artistic spectrum.

Two main presentation areas – Stage of Inspiration and Stage of Discussion – were connected by a lively foyer space which was constantly busy and used as an exhibition area by participating companies. Here they could showcase their latest technologies and chat to guests in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.

Stage of Inspiration featured presentations from Berlin based light artist Christopher Bauder of Dark Matter and international lighting and visual designers Yaron Abulafia, Mikki Kunttu and Koert Vermeulen among others. They explored a diversity of topics including sustainability, new technologies and their use in entertainment, art and promotion, education, and potential future directions and development for the industry. Most critically, everyone mentioned the need for keeping original ideas and thoughts flowing when creating designs.

Photographer, cinematographer, designer, light director and scenographer Arthur Szyman talked about the implementation of lighting and set design for The Voice in Poland, while producer and creative director Paweł "Spider" Pająk, founder and originator of multidisciplinary brand Percepto, talked about the creation of distinctive visual concepts based on the latest technologies.

Stage of Discussion saw some energising panels discuss some hot button topics including “Creative AI in Film Arts & Entertainment” which saw production director and digital specialist Chris Bird, Sara Cox of Neutral Human and Paweł "Spider" Pająk of Percepto discuss the possibilities of what AI may or may not bring to entertainment, moderated by Prolight’s Mikhail Fedorov.

And these were just the tip of the iceberg of around 50 fascinating debates and presentations!

Everyone commented on the event’s excellent production values which were delivered via two rental partners, Transcolor and TSE. Transcolor has recently invested in Robe’s high powered FORTE luminaire and these plus Robe’s TetraX featured prominently in lighting the Stage of Inspirations.

The presentation areas were fully lit with quality audio systems – with simultaneous translations into multiple languages available – and large high resolution LED screens that displayed everyone’s content with clarity and precision.

Robe’s Dave Whitehouse’s two presentations focusing on some of their latest innovations, “Lock It! The Robe TX1 PosiProfile” was all about this specific product, while “A New Way To Sing In The Rain” unravelled some of the cool patented technologies involved in the development of Robe’s iSeries IP rated ranges of luminaires.

Scena Jutra 2023 was a great success in uniting people from various performance related communities, and it is Rafal’s hope that, post-pandemic, the event will return to an annual slot on everyone’s calendar.

Photo Credit: Louise Stickland