Inspired by William Shakespeare’s “MacBeth” and featuring immersive theatre elements, Manual Cinema’s "The 4th Witch" will fill SUNY Oswego’s Waterman Theatre at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 18.

Part of the ARTSwego Performing Arts Series, “The 4th Witch” depicts the story of a young girl, orphaned from war, who becomes apprenticed to the three witches seen in “MacBeth.” 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 the invading army and escapes into the nearby forest. There, she is rescued by the witches. They agree to take the girl on as an apprentice, on the condition that she must never use her powers for revenge. Consumed by grief and rage, the girl comes to realize that it was Macbeth who killed her father –- and that she must choose between reconciliation or vengeance. 

"The 4th Witch" is an inversion of Shakespeare’s play, exploring themes of grief, war, generational conflict and cycles of violence through the collateral damage left behind on the battleground. Manual Cinema will host two workshops as well as the evening performance.

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 combines handmade shadow puppetry, cinematic techniques and innovative sound and music to create immersive stories for stage and screen. 

Referring to Manual Cinema as “the pride of the Chicago puppetry scene, beloved for both its art and its prominence,“ The New York Times said of “The 4th Witch: “It is a dark work, full of pain and loss, but then the darkness lifts,” and despite the subject matter, it is “charming, funny, life-affirming  …”

Using vintage overhead projectors, multiple screens, puppets, actors, live feed cameras, multi-channel sound design and live music, Manual Cinema transforms the experience of attending the cinema and imbues it with liveness, ingenuity,and theatricality.

This engagement of Manual Cinema is made possible in part through the ArtsCONNECT program of Mid Atlantic Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Available via tickets.oswego.edu, tickets for the show are free for SUNY Oswego students, and $20 for the general public, $15 for faculty/staff/alumni and $5 non-SUNY Oswego students.