Chicago Puppet Fest presents:
Manual Cinema:The 4th Witch
Manual Cinema: The 4th Witch
A new and fantastic tale from Chicago’s Manual Cinema, inspired by elements of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, in which a girl escapes war and flees into a dark forest. Told through shadow puppetry, actors in silhouette and live music, without dialogue or narration, The 4th Witch begins on the eve of an invasion of a small town by the local warlord, Macbeth. The girl flees into the nearby forest, where, orphaned and exiled, she is rescued by a witch, who adopts her as an apprentice. As the girl becomes more skilled in witchcraft, her grief and rage draw her into a nightmarish quest for vengeance against the warlord who killed her parents: Macbeth. The 4th Witch, an inversion of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, explores themes of grief, war, generational conflict, and cycles of violence through the collateral damage left behind on the battleground.
Event Details
Dates/Times:
Thursday, January 22 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, January 23 at 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, January 24 at 3 p.m.
Saturday, January 24 at 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, January 25 at 3 p.m.
Sunday, January 25 at 6 p.m.
Location:
The Biograph’s Začek-McVay Mainstage
2433 N. Lincoln Ave.
Cost:
$48 Regular
$40 Students and Seniors
Ages: 12 and up
Running Time: 65 mins
ADA Accessible? Yes
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About the Artists
About the Venue
About the Artists
Chicago/U.S.
Manual Cinema is an Emmy Award-winning performance collective, design studio and film/video production company founded in 2010 by Drew Dir, Sarah Fornace, Ben Kauffman, Julia Miller and Kyle Vegter. Manual Cinema tours internationally, combining handmade shadow puppetry, cinematic techniques, and innovative sound and music to create immersive stories for stage and screen. Using vintage overhead projectors, multiple screens, puppets, actors, live feed cameras, multi-channel sound design, and a live music ensemble, Manual Cinema transforms the experience of attending the cinema and imbues it with liveness, ingenuity, and theatricality. The 4th Witch marks the company’s fifth appearance in the Chicago Puppet Festival.
About the Venue
The Začek-McVay Theater, housed within the historic Biograph Theater, is a cherished part of Chicago’s vibrant theater landscape. It was originally built in 1914 as a movie house, specifically for showing motion pictures. This venue provides an intimate yet comfortable environment for both audience and performers, making it the perfect backdrop for the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival. The Začek-McVay Theater honors the legacy of Dennis Začekand Marcelle McVay, two pivotal figures in Chicago theater. Dennis Začek served as the artistic director of Victory Gardens Theater for over 30 years, and under his leadership, the theater became a nationally recognized hub for new and diverse works. Together, these theaters create a rich environment for artistic exploration, making them perfect venues for the festival’s most engaging and cutting-edge puppet performances. Festival-goers will have the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in up-close and personal experiences of the most innovative puppet shows.
