Illusions & Effects For Theatre
Theatrical productions often call for illusions and magical effects which are seemingly difficult to pull off - unfortunately they're usually cut from the show. Chris provides expert design and consulting to your creative team to make the dreams of authors and directors come to life on stage.
It all starts with a read of the script and a session with the director to get a sense of their vision for the show and the magical sequences required. From there, Chris will pitch various additional concepts and solutions to achieve each sequence of magic in the show. Once the effect upon the audience has been established, the rest of the creative team is consulted to plan which set or prop pieces will be required and how the effects will be staged. Chris usually comes in to work with your team to ensure that all of the elements are in place and working as they should.
Chris' illusion work has been seen in productions for effects such as vanishes, appearances, changes from one character to another, levitation and more.
What kind of illusions do we create?
Almost any magical idea can be realized on stage in some form. We have developed solutions for what seemed like pretty crazy ideas on the page. It's all about combining theatrical techniques and illusionary methods to weave together the best possible solution.
Take for example the image on the right. This was a bed that was designed by us and constructed by the set team for a production of Into the Woods. The effect was one in which the script calls for the Baker and Little Red Riding Hood to emerge from the stomach of the Wolf. Typically, theatrical productions will do this in silhouette. The director wanted to do it in full view to allow the audience to see the actors emerge, without knowing how it was accomplished.
For this, we designed an illusion using the bed. The prop gives the illusion that the entire underside of the bed is empty and that the audience can see through the back rail to the stage behind it. Neither of these assumptions are true. The prop has room for two actors and lay comfortably while remaining completely invisible to the audience.
The Vanishing Girl In Cloak Effect
This was an effect that we created for a production of An Inspector Calls. During the performance, the actress playing the hooded woman would walk about the stage behind the actors. In one of the final scenes, the director wanted her to come out in near darkness before being fully lit by a single light from below. The ask for me was to make the girl vanish into thin air. The theatre had no trap doors and this was all to happen in the middle of the stage with no set pieces nearby and no cover of any kind.
The video shown here is an exposed view, allowing you see how our solution, operated backstage by a single stagehand, allowed this production to present a beautiful ending to their production. Once the timing had been rehearsed and the lighting and music were added, the audience was completely unaware that a switch had taken place and were completely spellbound when she vanished into thin air.
