from Tom Burch (Scenic Designer, Ten Chimneys)

As a scenic designer, I love research… really LOVE research.  In the last couple of seasons at Northlight, I’ve been privileged to get to explore the world and times of Jane Austen (Sense & Sensibility), DC and environs during the 1860s (A Civil War Christmas) and the upscale world of New York City parlor society (Souvenir). Each was a fascinating look into a world gone by that I had to explore through books, the internet, movies and the like. However…

Two weeks ago, I made a trip alongside the Northlight staff and most of the design team of our upcoming production of Jeffrey Hatcher’s Ten Chimneys to Ten Chimneys, the estate of the Lunts in Genessee Depot, WI. A mere 90 minutes north of Chicago, it was a fascinating experience, and it brought to light intrinsically important details.  It was also a little overwhelming, not just to see, but as the scenic designer on this show, to think about the fact that I’m designing a space that many of our audience have probably BEEN TO and SEEN. It’s a little daunting, because I know that if I change too much, or “get it wrong” the audience here will surely let me (and BJ) know that they noticed.

I’ve had previous experience designing an actual “REAL” location for the stage, and curiously, both of those productions have Northlight connections.  The first was The Lady With All the Answers here at Northlight a few years ago, for which we recreated Ann Landers’ (i.e. Eppie Lederer’s) Lake Shore Drive living room circa 1976. The highlight of this was, for me, hearing Margo Howard (Eppie’s daughter) say upon entering the theatre, “Oh my God, it’s our living room!”  The other was the Goodman’s production of Brett Neveu’s Gas For Less (a Northlight commission) which was set at the Gas For Less station at the corner of Berteau and Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Square–mere blocks from where my wife and I live.

Getting such first-hand experience of the location of a play is exciting, but actually somewhat rare. During the tour of Ten Chimneys, I snapped over 150 pictures of various parts of the estate, an activity which is not allowed the average visitor (but was kindly granted to Northlight by the Ten Chimneys Foundation), including things that have NO bearing whatsoever on the show itself.  Getting to walk the halls, see where they slept, and the amazing care and love that the staff of Ten Chimneys Foundation shows the estate, was inspiring. The area by the pool and the studio (where the Lunts rehearsed) are the two locations where the play Ten Chimneys is set; however we got to go throughout the house, the garden, see the stunning Cottage where they honeymooned and the “chicken coop” (i.e. Alfred’s mother’s residence),  the Greenhouse and Creamery, the Poolhouse… you get the idea.   The place is huge and sprawling,  yet it maintains a breathtaking intimacy and beauty that’s eye-catching.

Most rooms in the main residence have either hand-painted murals by the Lunts’ favorite scenic and costume designer, Claggett Wilson, or wallpaper that was hand-cut for effect.  In some cases, Lynn hired workers to re-hand-paint the flowers on these sections so that they “glowed” and were more vibrant.  You can even see where the painters stopped painting behind the furniture. The Cottage is filled with Scandinavian-style painted-detail (an homage to Alfred’s step-father, and the time he spent overseas as a child). As ostentatious and décor-filled as the main house is, the studio is a sedate workroom devoid of the visually diverting detail that is so prevalent in the other buildings on the estate. In my mind it’s very much a study in contrasts… the theatrical world of painted detail that they lived in, versus the austerity of a space meant for WORK.

The play delves so beautifully into how they lived and rehearsed constantly, and how dedicated they were to their craft (at times to the exclusion of everything and everyone else around them), and you can see that work ethic  and the dichotomy of their persona in the estate they so loved.   I’m now working hard, trying to figure out a way to maintain the spirit of their world and transfer it to Northlight’s stage this coming March… I look forward to hearing the audience’s reactions!

Tom Burch lives and works in Chicago. http://www.tomburch.com.