Bringing the dangers of Mother Nature to the stage, Bear Grylls’ live show, Endeavour, takes inspiration from his adventures as an ex-SAS soldier and survivalist, re-enacting death defying experiences as told by him. Creative Technology (CT) provided extensive projection which brought nature into an indoor- venue environment.

Working for Harvey Goldsmith, AEG Live, StuFish Design and the content team, headed up by Rob Currie, CT used projection to recreate cliff-faces, the arctic and jungle scenes, even helping to take Bear on a space exploration adventure. With such a large upstage canvas to work with, the potential was endless – all that remained was ensuring that the projectors could deliver the detail and beauty that we see in wildlife.

This was done using 12 Panasonic DZ21K projectors guaranteeing that the projection was bright enough so no audience member experienced a lower image quality due to their seating position. CT mapped the 276m2 scenic upstage 3D climbing wall while VYV’s Photon server provided the quality needed.

To compensate for the shadows caused by those on stage, Bear Grylls and the other cast members wore IR transmitters so that they could be tracked as they flew across the venue space using wired harnesses, between the main and B-stage. Off-stage, the left and right “wing” aspects of the wall acted as IMAG areas, often being used to depict content that was different from that on centre stage.

Rehearsals took place throughout September with the first showing kicking off on the 7th October, at London’s Wembley Arena. Touring throughout October, the last show will take place in Manchester on the 28th.