Manual Cinema Masterfully Mindbinding: The Fourth Witch

What if you went to the movie theatre, and off to the side you watch the entire process of creating the movie happen live? You might call that theatre, but it wouldn’t be because a film has so many different layers then a show. Then, what if I told you it isn’t a live action movie, but rather an animated one and the animation was done in real time. That would be insane and fascinating all at once. Manual Cinema‘s The Fourth Witch is brought to Boston by ArtsEmerson and will be playing at the Paramount through November 9th. Manual Cinema is one of those really special experiences that I highly recommend anyone go see while they are in town. Words cannot come close enough to describing the entire experience.

Manual Cinema

Manual Cinema creates a two dimensional animated movie on stage as it unfolds with both two and three dimensional elements. The music is live, the scenery is live, and the characters are both on stage and on overhead projectors. The movie is on a screen as one would expect for cinema. All in all it is a mind-blowing, intricate, and exceptional experience. Manual Cinema is a Chicago-based performance collective, design studio, and film/video production company that was founded in 2010 by Drew Dir, Sarah Fornace, Ben Kauffman, Julia Miller, and Kyle Vegter. The five members of Manual Cinema become every element of this “animated film” performance. Manual Cinema uses vintage overhead projectors, multiple screens, puppets, actors, live feed cameras, multi-channel sound design, and live musicto create a whole new experience of watching a movie.

The Fourth Witch

The Fourth Witch is inspired by elements of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The story focuses on an orphaned and exiled girl who is both afraid and fiesty. She is adopted by a witch. Like Macbeth the story has themes of grief, rage and vengeance.

We’re so excited to return to ArtsEmerson with Manual Cinema’s newest feature, The 4th Witch. As Manual Cinema celebrates its fifteenth year making interdisciplinary puppetry, theater, and music, we’re thrilled to share our genre-bending inversion of Shakespeare’s Macbeth with Boston audiences.

Drew Dir, Co-Artistic Director & Lead Deviser.

Tickets for The 4^th Witch may be purchased 24/7 at ArtsEmerson.org, or by calling 617-824-8400 (Tue-Sat from 12:00PM ET – 6:00PM ET). The Paramount Center Box Office (559 Washington Street, Boston) is open for walk-up service Thu-Sat from Noon – 6:00 PM ET. Tickets start at $27.50. Groups of 10+ attending a performance save up to 30%.