Review: Manual Cinema, October 31, Thalia Hall

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Review: Manual Cinema, October 31, Thalia Hall

Posted on

5 Nov 2014

by

Celeste

Openers tend to be a surprise – for better or worse. Unless you’ve meticulously prepped for your show and you actually know the opener, it’s likely that you’re putting your ears and 45 minutes of your time into the hopefully capable decision-making-hands of the headlining act and whoever they’ve chosen to open for them.

Bonnie Prince Billy headlined a show at Chicago’s newer venue, Thalia Hall, down in Pilsen on Friday night. Chicagoans came out in force and in costume for the sold out show (best costume of the night goes to the spot on head-banded Richie and fur-coated Margot Tenenbaum eating at the restaurant after the show).

The first pleasant surprise of the night was that it was a seated show – the venue was wall to wall folding chairs. The second was the opener – Manual Cinema. Not as I had originally assumed, a nonsensically named band, but a Chicago based shadow puppetry company whose name was a perfect descriptor. The troupe set up four projectors and for the next 45 minutes, used transparencies, actors silhouetted on a background, and a live backing band to meticulously produce Ava/Ada – the story of a bereaved twin living in a light house, mourning the death of her elderly sister.

Even beyond the beauty of the whimsical (and quite creepy) story, the most amazing part of the show was the intricate technical aspect. Using as far as I could tell, no technology created past the mid-90’s, the troupe had four actors manipulating miniscule cut-outs against backdrops on the projectors, and two actors interacting with the projected images on a screen which was then relayed to the audience as silhouettes on a bigger screen above. It’s amazing what this group of people can do with their lo-fi materials – the story they produced was poignant, sad, sweet and funny – and it translated universally to their audience.

In the spirit of “Whatever you do, do it well” this group is killing it. Probably there aren’t a heck of a lot of shadow puppetry troupes out there (or maybe there are? I have no idea), but I have full faith that this is one of the best ones out there.

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