“Manuel Cinema’s Christmas Carol”

[rating=5]There is a theater company in town that works with puppets. Not ordinary puppets, but special puppets that are watched on both a video projection screen and while the puppeteers do the work. They are called Manuel Cinema and right now they are gracing the stage of Writers Theatre in Glencoe with their original work ( seen first time live) based on the work of one Charles Dickens called “Manuel Cinema’s Christmas Carol”.

The story is pretty much the basic story, but told in a different way – Aunt Trudy ( LaKecia Harris is sheer perfection, but could be aided by wearing a mic) is going through her recently departed “boyfriend” Joe’s annual puppet show, “Uncle Joe’s Christmas Carol” which he presented every year for the family. It is with deep sadness and love that  she agrees to recreate his puppet show, by Zoom, for the family. As she takes us on this journey, telling us a bit about her relationship with Joe and the fact that they did not actually wed or have children, she gets into the story of Scrooge, but at the same time finds that the story takes on its own life. Ghosts of her past seem to be in the room as well and although she is disrupted from time t time, the story and the puppets are far stronger than anything that can pull her away from completing “Joe’s” story.

This all began in 2020, during the pandemic when theater was non-existent. That is when Manuel Cinema’s staff got the idea to take a classic holiday tale and use its wonderful puppetry to create something new and different that would be eventful for audiences everywhere, providing they had a computer and ZOOM! Now they have taken it further so that live audiences can not only see the product as the ZOOM audiences did, but also watch the puppeteers work the stage as well. This is a treat for one and all, young and old. I would suggest that anyone who can attend a theater, do so with this masterpiece.

In addition to the fabulous Ms Harris, the other puppeteers are Lizi Breitm Julia Miller and Jeffrey Paschal ( who also plays the food delivery guy who sticks around to finish the show).

There is also music and some singing done by Ben Kauffman, Emily Meyer and Kyle Vegter.

What is amazing to watch is how these puppeteers must layout each puppet and board before the show so they will be at the right place at the right time. We are talking hundreds of puppets being moved about over a 70 minute story. If one is wrong, it could change it all. This is perfection, sheer perfection and a talented group of performers to make it happen.

Where we would speak about writers and directors in a typical review, in this one we must credit Ben Kaufman and Kyle Vegter for the original score and sound, Julia Miller for the costumes and Drew Dir for the storyboards and the puppet design. Rae Watson handles the props ( and there are quite a few).

This is “A Christmas Carol” as you have never seen it before. It is funny, sad, honest and of great importance understandable and to be honest , over in 70 minutes. That is perfect for both kids and some adults.

While the entire story ( the one that Dickens wrote) unfolds, we also learn something about people, love, caring, loneliness and mortality Aunt Trudy loved Uncle Joe very much and perhaps their puppet show ( his in reality) represented the child they never had, which makes for a great reason for her to continue his tradition, making it theirs!

“Manuel Cinema’s Christmas carol” will continue at Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Court in Glencoe thru December 24th with performances as follows:

Tuesdays  7:30 p.m.

Wednesdays  7:30 p.m.

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Sundays 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Tickets range from $35 and can be purchased at the box office, by calling 847-242-6000 or at www.writerstheatre.org

While this is a family show, it is suggested that children under 6 not attend.

The theme of the performance includes some profanity, themes of grief and of losing a loved one.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Manuel Cinema’s Christmas carol”