Looking for something different for your hump day? The Chicago troupe, Manual Cinema, has got you covered . . . especially if you’re a fan of puppets. Or live movies.
A 2016 Drama Desk Award-nominee, Manual Cinema is a performance collective, design studio and film/video production company that presents brilliant, cinematic puppet shows that can be downright spooky, or the New York Times put it, “phantasms to die for.”
With stories that are told non-verbally, the group transforms the experience of cinema and makes a true hybrid with theater as a cast of six puppeteers use hundreds of paper puppets, seven overhead projectors, two cameras, and three screens to create a live “movie” in front of the audience.
Just check out this behind-the-scenes video for yourself:
Here’s a little bit about the show, Mementos Mori, they will be performing this Wednesday, March 1 at the University of Richmond.
When Death takes an unexpected holiday, an elderly film projectionist finds a new lease on life; a ghost explores the afterlife with her iPhone; a 7-year-old girl discovers her own mortality. In Manual Cinema’s most ambitious show to date, a cast of six puppeteers use hundreds of paper puppets, seven overhead projectors, two cameras, and three screens to create a live “movie” . . . Accompanied by four musicians and live sound effects, the result is a rich mosaic of cinematic storytelling. Mementos Mori is a lively, beguiling meditation on death and dying.
Manual Cinema performs Wednesday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m.
at Alice Jepson Theatre. Tickets range from $17 to $34 (adults). Go here to learn more or buy tickets.