La Théâtre de Laval in north-western France has completed a project to modernise its lighting, opting for a retrofit approach that converts existing fixtures to LED rather than replacing them. The three-year investment was intended to combine technical requirements, lighting design and low environmental impact, while addressing the gradual obsolescence of the venue’s halogen inventory. The theatre converted more than 70 Robert Juliat profile spotlights to LED, retaining their existing optics to extend the life of equipment still in working order.
Opened in 2007 following five years of reconstruction, and designated Centre National de la Marionnette since 2022, La Théâtre de Laval is a multidisciplinary venue offering dance, theatre, music and hybrid forms.
Rolled out between 2023 and 2025, the project covered the entire lighting system of the 580-seat Grande Salle Barbara Hendricks. It involved 46 Robert Juliat Sully 4C coloured-LED retrofit modules and 28 Bizet 500W variable-white lamp houses, which converted the theatre’s existing 1kW RJ 600SX and 2kW RJ 700SX profile spotlights respectively. The theatre also purchased 20 Robert Juliat Dalis 860 LED cyclights. The stage, with a proscenium 20m high by 16m wide, now uses 8-colour mixing LED light sources offering a wide colour spectrum. The old halogen lamp houses from the 700SX units were not discarded but donated to other theatres to refurbish their own equipment.
For the technical team, the choice of retrofit modules was not only about ecological impact but also technical and theatrical requirements. “We were particularly impressed by the Sully 4C profile spotlights,” say Christophe Duteil and Ronan Le Gall, the theatre’s lighting specialists. “We use them in full raw mode for dance and theatre, and the colour gamut is truly high-quality and complete. The RJ Color colour management embedded in the fixture itself ensures crisp and clear colour transitions. The tungsten simulation effect is also perfectly controlled, which is an essential aesthetic parameter for many designers and technicians with a discerning eye!”
The Bizet lamp houses converted the theatre’s traditional 700SX profile spots. With a 500W variable-white LED light source, they offer remote adjustment of colour temperature from 3000K to 6300K. The manufacturer says the LED source operates at full power whatever the colour temperature selected, delivering high-quality whites and high CRI levels.
“The new Bizet profile spots are installed front of house and above the stage, whilst the Dalis cyclorama lights provide the stage with a wash of light – a feature that is particularly valuable for the theatre’s dance productions,” explains Le Gall.
“Choosing the French manufacturer Robert Juliat was a natural choice,” say Duteil and Le Gall. “The reliability and longevity of Robert Juliat spotlights are well established! We wanted to give our 1kW and 2kW profile spots, which were well maintained and in perfect working order, a whole new second life. That’s exactly what we’ve done, and we now have spotlights featuring advanced LED technology that delivers the same high-quality light and optics we’re used to.”
By choosing LED conversion rather than outright replacement, the theatre aimed to combine technical performance with energy efficiency. Audiolite, one of Robert Juliat’s distributors in France, supported the project.
Images: La Théâtre de Laval
