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Theatre is all about illusion Theatre is all about illusion. As Dr. Betty Evans taught us in Drama 107, - "The willing suspension of disbelief." The opera Pelleas et Melisande was a wonderful example of this concept. The scenic design was created as a collection of small glass models by the glass artist Dale Chihuly, to be reproduced on our shop as a combination of steel, plastic and paint. A reoccurring challenge to what we build is that it not only has to look like what the designer wanted, but it must also behave as scenery. What that means is first, to get it from our shop to the theater it must disassemble into manageable parts, fit into a truck, reassemble rapidly on-stage, and be manageable for scene changes during the show. Particular to Pelleas, there is music written (read that as a specific time limit) for the scene changes - some as short as 120 seconds. How to accomplish that and the and have the audience belive designs were "glass." Pelleas was a challenge. Here is one of the glass models. Not only did this piece have to look transparent - like glass, but people had to play in it too.