Manual Cinema’s “Christmas Carol”

An avowed holiday skeptic, Aunt Trudy has been recruited to channel the Christmas cheer of her late husband, Joe. From the isolation of her Chicago apartment, she reconstructs his annual Christmas Carol puppet show over a Zoom call while the family celebrates Christmas Eve under lockdown. But as Trudy becomes more absorbed in her own version of the story, the puppets take on a life of their own. The family’s call then transforms into a stunning cinematic adaptation of Dickens’ classic story.

The Midwest Trust Center presents the world premiere of Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol.

Choose from four livestream times/dates:

• 10 a.m. CST, Wednesday, December 16
• 7 p.m. CST, Thursday, December 17
• 7 p.m. CST, Friday, December 18
• 9 p.m. CST, Friday, December 18

Tickets are $20 per household. Each show will be performed live in Manual Cinema’s Chicago studio and livestreamed by Marquee TV.

Credits
A Manual Cinema Production, adapted from the novel by Charles Dickens, written by Manual Cinema artistic directors.

Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol was made possible by the contributions of co-commissioners: Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley; COCA – Center of Creative Arts; College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University; Krannert Center for the Performing Arts/University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Millersville University – The Ware and Winter Centers; Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech; Stanford Live; Williams Center for the Arts, Lafayette College; and Writers Theatre, with substantial in-kind commissioning support from Marquee TV; and additional support from the Newman Center for the Performing Arts at University of Denver.