When Chris Harper Productions set out to stage Othello at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, the creative team faced a formidable challenge: how to fit an ambitious design featuring multiple flown scenic elements into one of the West End’s most compact and architecturally constrained grids.
Working closely with production manager Damian Partington and technical director Ammonite, Unusual Rigging was brought in from the earliest design phase to make the show’s elaborate flying system a reality.
The set called for two large ceiling pieces suspended over the stage, three independently-flown doors, and a network of full-width trusses carrying scenic sliders and tracking lighting booms – all moving in carefully choreographed harmony.
“The brief was all about movement,” explained Unusual design engineer, Luke MacBride “Panels pivoting, doors rocking, lighting booms tracking – all within a grid that’s historically tight and interrupted by timber roof trusses. But because we know the Haymarket so well, we could plan around every obstruction, and make a system work safely in a space where there’s very little room for error.”
To achieve the complex cueing, Absolute Motion Control winches were mounted to truss and redirected through a bespoke network of pulley diversions, allowing multiple elements to move simultaneously without collision. The rig was built entirely from standard Unusual stock components, designed for rapid disassembly and reuse in line with the company’s circular-economy ethos.
Jonathan Harrison-Walsh, Head of Automation for Othello said: “Having worked with Unusual Rigging before, I knew how the team can always rise to a challenge. The creative vision for Othello had a number of challenging elements which the team at Unusual Rigging, in close partnership with Absolute Motion Control, were able to navigate expertly.”
Despite a get-in window of just six days, the team successfully hung what’s believed to be the heaviest show ever staged at the Theatre Royal Haymarket – approximately 11 tonnes static, before considering the dynamic loads from the automated pieces. Structural engineers, Momentum, approved the design, which also introduced new Unistrut infrastructure, truss ladders and fall-arrest provisions to support ongoing venue maintenance.
Unusual’s familiarity with the venue meant the team could deliver a really complex flying system efficiently and safely, while ensuring every component could be reused, in line with the organisation’s commitment to the circular economy.
Othello also reflects the deepening partnership between Unusual Rigging and Absolute Motion Control, who are increasingly joining forces to deliver fully integrated engineering and automation solutions. As Unusual expands its expertise in custom, show-specific designs, Absolute provides the high-end control systems that bring these concepts to life.
Harrison-Walsh concluded: “As Head of Automation on production, I worked closely with the team who, as always, were on hand both during and after the installation period to answer queries and were always quick to respond. I always receive a great degree of support from Unusual Rigging; in this case Felix Pearson was always happy to offer advice, suggestions and critically, was able to work cohesively with other suppliers to deliver the creative vision safely.”
