The Capulets Projection Design
- Credits
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John Pobojewski
Concept, Design Direction, Design, 3D, AnimationZach Minnich
Design, 3D, AnimationWade Schaaf
ChoreographyMatty Mattson
MusicNathan Rohrer
Costume DesignDavid Goodman-Edberg
Lighting Design
Span partnered with Chicago Repertory Ballet to create the projection design for the world premiere of The Capulets — a bold reimagining of Romeo and Juliet conceived and choreographed by Wade Schaaf and told through the volatile world of the Capulet family. Designed by John Pobojewski together with Zach Minnich, the projections function not just as scenery, but as an active performer onstage: a dynamic partner that interacts with the dancers, shapes the emotional temperature of each moment, and extends the production’s physical world through immersive digital imagery.
Set in a modern yet “out-of-time” Verona, the ballet reframes Shakespeare’s universe through Lady Capulet’s fractured point of view. Span’s visual system reflects this interiority—sometimes architectural, sometimes dreamlike, sometimes sharply psychological. Environments dissolve, refract, and collide with the dancers’ movements. Graphic motifs mark key power shifts, family tensions, and the hidden relationships that drive the plot forward. Across the work, the projections serve as storytellers, heightening critical beats of emotion, clarifying dramatic turns, and guiding the audience deeper into the Capulets’ unraveling.
Pobojewski and Minnich worked closely with Schaaf and the creative team to craft an visual narrative mirroring the ballet’s contemporary classical score by Matty Mattsson, neo-futurist costume design by Nathan Rohrer, and bold lighting design by David Goodman-Edberg. The result is a unified visual and choreographic world—one where movement, light, and image operate as a single, expressive instrument.
The Capulets premiered November 2025 at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts in Chicago, adding a fresh chapter to CRB’s legacy of genre-bending and visually ambitious performance.
”John Pobojewski and Zach Minnich’s designs help create the atmosphere of “The Capulets” and enrich the dancers’ storytelling movement itself.” — See Chicago Dance
”John Pobojewski and Zach Minnich fashioned ingenious digital sets that drew us in without sacrificing an inch of the dancers’ floor space.” — Buzznews
”These projections could be a stand alone exhibit.” — Chicago Stage and Screen
”The set's trappings do not distract from the dancing... it has the opposite effect of enhancing the relationships between characters.” — Third Coast Review
"All-in investment in its ambitious vision for Chicago dance." — Chicago Tribune
Live projection overlays are timed with the dancers' performance during the Town Brawl.
Lady Capulet seduces Tybalt in the Armory, surrounded by a chorus of "suits of armor."
Classic ballet meets the nightclub in the Ballroom, borrowing visual tropes from live VJing.
Lady Capulet and Tybalt succumb to passion in her bedchambers as Lord Capulet and Paris wake up in his.
Tybalt kills Mercutio in a dual, then meets his own mortal end, mirroring the story of Romeo & Juliet.
Lady Capulet is consumed with grief while the people of Verona pay tribute to Tybalt as a war hero.
In the epilogue, the children of Verona dance as the Capulet family is reunited, raising Tybalt's child as their own.
