Several Shows at Chicago’s Shakespeare Theater Required CSSI’s Scenic Engineering Expertise
Chicago Scenic has a burgeoning new relationship with the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. We have worked on the sets for its last two productions, Hamlet and The Three Musketeers, and have just completed work on the theater’s current production of Troilus and Cressida.

The Hamlet set, which was glossy black, was designed by Mark Bailey to blend into the background. But the set still had to be functional, so it included several sets of sliding wall panels that could open and close like an elevator door as needed. It also featured a floor trap that allowed the ghost of Hamlet’s father to float above the stage and another trap downstage for Ophelia’s grave.

For The Three Musketeers, a world premier musical, Chicago Scenic built scenic elements to complement the black and white “etched” look of the period, including the painted stage floor and a large moving staircase that split the stage into two sections to create different scenic environments. Wooden-clad steel superstructures and bridge added to the set’s scenic flexibility on the thrust. In addition, CSSI engineered and built a sliding French trap in the floor of the thrust from which a horse rose up directly under its rider.

For their current production of Troilus and Cressida, we created textured wood and steel grid flats that covered the entire 40-foot-width of the stage’s back wall and slide open and fly. We also built two ramps that stretch across the stage. The downstage ramp is fixed while the upstage ramp is a 40’ clear span that can travel vertically eight feet on one end and support 10 actors.

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