QuikSpot and QuikPunch light Canadian Stage’s Twelfth Night, the latest instalment of Dream in High Park, one of Canada’s largest and longest-running outdoor professional theatre events, drawing over 30,000 people to Toronto each summer.
Dream in High Park by Canadian Stage is a popular and accessible summertime production based on the mischief and magic of Shakespeare. In 2026, the company staged Twelfth Night in the beautiful High Park Amphitheatre, with technical director Brayden Crawford and lighting designer Logan Cracknell building the rig around 35 Astera LED fixtures: 27 QuikSpots and 8 QuikPunches.
The fixtures were supplied by rental company Apex Lighting, whose Chris Pegg first introduced the production to QuikSpot the previous year. Its versatility sharply reduced the number of lighting fixtures needed to light the show elegantly, with far more flexibility and scope, while saving time and power along the way.
This year, Canadian Stage returned to Apex for its Astera fixtures, and QuikPunch, launched the previous year, joined the rig for the first time, delivering striking aesthetics alongside the rest of the lighting package over the show’s two-month run.
Brayden says the quality of light and smooth colour mixing of QuikSpot and QuikPunch were central to lighting the production, performing well in a theatrical environment thanks to their beam shaping options, strong zoom and high CRI for accurate flesh tones. Access to colour-changing fixtures like these has let Canadian Stage halve the number of lights on the Dream rig, while also cutting the tech time needed for rigging and focusing.
With the show staged outdoors, an IP rating was essential. The IP65 rating of QuikSpot and QuikPunch, both wired and wireless, proved mission critical and meant no special coverings were needed at any lighting position.
The fixtures were hung on a series of vertical truss towers rigged out across the park at different distances from the stage, as well as around the edges of the stage, disguised by foliage, with some mounted directly on the stage set itself.
QuikSpots were used mainly in front positions, lighting the action together with the stage and set, in conjunction with units in rear on-set positions that highlighted the elevated upstage areas. Others were focused to up-light the surrounding trees, accentuating the role of nature in Twelfth Night, a play that opens with a violent shipwreck and explores human behaviour and fate through natural imagery as it introduces the strange, randomised world of Illyria.
QuikPunches kicked in from the sides to colour and layer parts of the set, adding depth, dimension and drama to the performance space.
“The design and engineering are highly functional, and the fixtures can be focused quickly and efficiently.” — Brayden Crawford, Technical Director, Canadian Stage
Brayden, who had not used Astera products extensively before the 2025 production, was delighted with the results. He notes that the fixtures were straightforward for his technicians to learn, with accessories such as the barn doors and removable yoke proving simple to use. He also praised the great service and support he received from Chris Pegg at Apex.
The High Park stage spans around 35 metres wide, with a thrust element at the front and two levels at the back including a balcony, a large area that needed efficient coverage from a manageable number of fixtures. Toronto summer weather can be erratic, and Brayden reports that the Astera fixtures performed consistently well whatever the conditions brought.
All 35 fixtures ran wired for the production, the practical choice for the run, though it was also useful that they arrived pre-charged so they could be rigged and addressed on battery power. With the production’s technical elements running on a single 200A supply, the Astera fixtures substantially reduced the show-running power needed for lighting, freeing up extra capacity for other departments and logistics, a welcome bonus over the course of the season.
Lighting was operated by Riley Donovan-Whitelaw on an ETC Ion console. Twelfth Night was another success for Canadian Stage, directed by Gregory Prest, with set and costume design by Sim Suzer and sound design, musical direction and composition by Olivia Wheeler.
Photos by Dahlia Katz (show), courtesy Canadian Stage, and Jeremy Chan (technical), courtesy Apex Lighting.
