Back to AllOur Hires
Find out about our extensive hire services.
Tell Me More
For over a century, Oxford Playhouse has been at the heart of cultural life in the city and region. Founded in 1923, it has been in its current home on Beaumont Street, Oxford since 1938. With a rich cultural heritage, countless stars of stage and screen have performed on its stages including Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, Dame Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes and Rosamund Pike. Its many notable productions include the 1966 Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS) of Dr Faustus starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Today, as both a producing and receiving house, it presents a wide range of shows including drama, comedy, dance, music, opera and pantomime.
Oxford Playhouse (photo: Andrew Walmsley)
With technology, as with art, such a venue cannot stand still. In 2025, led by Technical Director & Head of Production, Ash Bale, it set about updating its sound facilities with the aim of continuing to meet the requirements and expectations of both visiting companies and audiences. The investment also aimed to reduce the likelihood of having to compromise on sound quality and avoid the unnecessary costs of temporary system hire.
Gus Van Spyk, Deputy Chief Electrician at Oxford Playhouse, explains, “The upgrade involved replacing our nearly 30-year-old sound system with an up-to-date system. As well as new loudspeakers for FOH and monitoring, it was also an opportunity for us to re-think how our Circle delays worked, to ensure a more even coverage of our audience space. As our old system only had limited digital components, we also wanted the addition of primary and secondary networks for Dante and amp control.”
Having hired a PA system from Autograph the previous year Van Spyk, as the Playhouse’s in-house sound engineer, reached out to the company to enquire about an upgrade. He recalls, “I told them what we were hoping to achieve from a new sound system, and when we would be looking to carry out the upgrade. With the knowledge of all the different applications for the system and how they would work in our theatre space, I acted as the main point of contact.”
Autograph’s sound experts, led by Mark Noble and Will Cottrell, began working closely with the Oxford Playhouse team. They visited the venue to meet with Ash and Gus understand its working practices, listen to the tech crew’s needs and ensure that the proposed solution would deliver the required quality and flexibility, both now and in the future, while respecting the auditorium’s sightlines and aesthetics. Says Van Spyk, “Every level of detail was considered by Autograph leaving us with every confidence that we were getting the best our money could buy.”
The upgrade saw Autograph’s Sales & Installation team design and deliver a new sound system, including PA, stage monitoring and signal routing – with enhanced networking and redundancy – drawing on technologies from d&b audiotechnik, Yamaha, Sonifex and Netgear.
The new system includes a main PA of installation-specific, point source loudspeakers from d&b’s Y-Series, plus smaller d&b cabinets for delays and fills. It consists of Yi10P loudspeakers for Stalls L/R, Yi7Ps for Circle L/R and another two Yi7P boxes forming a centre cluster, with low-frequency support from B22-SUBs. Under-balcony and circle delays are provided by d&b 5S speakers, while front-fills and stage-fills are E6 and E8 cabinets respectively. The system is powered by d&b 40D and 5D amplifiers.
Here, another solution is the provision of one of Autograph’s own units, a Signature Series AES 160-D Dante-to-AES Converter, to feed the d&b 40D amplifiers which do not take Dante native. This 1U converter features two fully redundant PSUs (each with separate inputs), eight XLR outputs for 16 channels of AES, with connectivity rear-mounted to suit the needs of the installation.
Noble and the Autograph team were also able to bring new value to the venue, analysing and advising on how they could enhance operations – something that was hugely appreciated by the technical team. They specified Sonifex A-D converters to enable touring consoles to input into the Dante system, plus Yamaha’s DME7 digital signal processor at the heart of the system, to look after routing and control, with all communicating via Netgear Pro AV switching. This delivered improvements to the existing network topology, giving the venue more redundant Dante connections.
Van Spyk says, “Previously we’d had a small Yamaha Dante switch that handled all the networking. Autograph added redundancy into the system, introduced a primary and secondary network which protected against stops due to a system failure. They also gave us advice on how we could further improve our system’s networking in the future. In the past we could input a limited number of devices into the network, but now the amount of networking available is more than enough for what we would ever need in our venue.”
As a result of the upgrade, without the need for physical set up or patching, the theatre’s sound team enjoys faster and more efficient changeovers, and a far greater capability to meet the needs of visiting companies. What’s more, the sound is vastly improved. “The new system’s sound quality and coverage is fantastic,” says Van Spyk, “exactly what we were hoping to gain as a best-case scenario. In the past, there was a significant drop-off of sub and general quality in certain areas of the auditorium. But now, wherever you are, the sound quality and level is excellent.”
Audiences have agreed, remarking how much clearer and more balanced the sound has become. So too have visiting sound engineers, commenting on the quality of the sound, and the standard of the equipment that enables the system to perform so reliably.
Describing the process, Van Spyk says, “It was a really positive and trouble-free experience. The Autograph team were very generous with their time and knowledge, and everyone went above and beyond what was required. We couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome and are very grateful for the expertise demonstrated by Autograph.”
In November 2025, Oxford Playhouse Technical Director & Head of Production Ashley Bale passed away from cancer. Having joined Oxford Playhouse in 1997, Ash had been at the heart of the theatre and every show that has played there for over 28 years. His extraordinary technical knowledge, passion for theatre, and dedication to his team helped to shape The Playhouse of today. His contribution to the organisation is immeasurable. The new sound system and improved experience for Playhouse audiences, will remain part of his incredible legacy.
Visit Oxford Playhouse:
Click on photos to enlarge.
Oxford Playhouse exterior: photo by Andrew Walmsley
Interior photography: photos by Graham Chrimes
