Graduate lights up the night at swimming championships

Keith Tucker and a 2006 Commonwealth Games fish

April 2007

If you happened to stroll between Federation Square and Rod Laver Arena during the FINA World Swimming Championships, you may have stumbled across a giant kaleidoscope – a water-themed sound and light show that reflected colour on surrounding trees, paths and grassy slopes.

This sound and light show, which ran after dark for the duration of the swimming championships, was brought to you by Monash alumnus Keith Tucker (BA 1980, DipEd 1982). Mr Tucker is Director of Megafun, a company providing creative and technical support for the arts and entertainment industries. He and his company were also responsible for the memorable river show and fish that dotted the Yarra River during the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Appropriately named Kaleidoscope, the light show immersed its audience in aquatic-themed colours and patterns which synchronised with a soundtrack featuring Eva Cassidy’s Wade in Water, Christine Anu’s Dive, Smoke City’s Underwater Love and Dire Straits’ Twisting by the Pool.

“I hoped to create an atmosphere similar to a piece of theatre where kids would run around, touching dots and beams of light. However, the show did cater for both young and old because people of different ages respond to light in different ways,” said Mr Tucker.

Illuminated fish at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony

Birrarung Marr proved to be the perfect setting for Kaleidoscope due to its openness and because it was a thoroughfare for people wandering along the Yarra River to and from the FINA World Swimming Championships.

“It had that advantage of being a blank canvas. The grass, trees and bridges were transformed. You saw them in a way you’ve never seen them before,” said Mr Tucker.

Mr Tucker found his passion for lighting at an early age when experimenting with torches and cellophane in his bedroom. At Monash University, he dedicated his time outside study to working backstage at the University’s Alexander Theatre where, over the years, he busied himself selling tickets and in staging and lighting projects.

“The experience I gained at the Alexander Theatre during my time at Monash was, without a doubt, an important part of my career,” Mr Tucker says, naming former staff member Graham McGuffie as his mentor and “an inspiration”.