Theatre signage and neon props for the Donmar Warehouse

Theatre signage for Clydes @ The Donmar

Double Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lynn Nottages’ ‘Clydes’ tells the story of former inmates being given a second chance at a run-down Pennsylvania truck stop, overlooked by their boss Clyde. The production ran from October – December 2023 at London’s Donmar Warehouse and the production team approached Carousel Lights to ask for our help in creating the theatre signage for Lighting Designer Oliver Fenwick’s stunning set.

Set design neon props – the brief

The production team had already designed the ‘Clydes’ design for the promotional material, showing a script style outline text design with an orange glow. We also saw mood-board images of Americana style signage that the designers were trying to emulate. Alongside the visual aspects it was also important that the signage was dimmable and could colour change. It therefore became evident that two of our products would be ideal for this theatre production – Neon Ultra® and Neon SuperFlex.

a/ Clyde’s DINER in Neon Ultra®

Produced from 30mm deep opal acrylic, Neon Ultra® is an extremely robust product meaning is ideally suit to theatre use where it can be confidently moved around and stored by scenic teams.

‘Clyde’s’ measure 2053mm (w) x 876mm (h) and DINER measured 1740mm (w0 x 336mm (h). Each was supplied using RGBW illumination meaning the production could achieve a pure white illumination colour, as well as a full spectrum of colour options – it was of course dimmable too.

b/ GAS, TIRES and Americana arrow in Neon SuperFlex

6mm RGB Neon SuperFlex was used for GAS, TIRES, the arrow around Clyde’s DINER and the boxes around GAS and TIRES. This is a 6mm wide product and was supplied with mounting and fixing accessories.

Clydes theatre signage installation

The production team managed the install of the lighting and signage themselves, running it through a lighting desk to offer full control of the signage.