Manual Cinema's 'The 4th Witch' offers a creative tale of revenge

What you nurture grows. And for a nameless girl at the center of Manual Cinema’s exquisitely creative tale “The 4th Witch,” her need to avenge the death of her parents becomes a rage-fueled, all-consuming goal.

The thrilling show, presented by ArtsEmerson through Nov. 9, is an inventive cautionary narrative inspired by Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” that stokes the flames of emotionality and wonder with music, projection, actors in silhouette and shadow puppetry.

Though there’s no dialogue in this 65-minute offering, you certainly don’t miss it. The cinematic techniques and vintage overhead projectors and transparencies that once filled classrooms help create multiple scenes the girl moves through. There’s a war-torn neighborhood with fighter jets in the sky, a creepy forest with magic mushrooms and the dwelling of an old witch who rescues the girl after she fled into the woods following her parents’ death. The worlds the girl inhabits are depicted on a screen above the stage that the audience watches like a silent film.

Onstage, the extremely talented cast and crew — including sound and lighting designers, puppeteers, actors, costumers and musicians doubling as vocalists — provide a lush environment for each scene. While living with the witch, the girl (Sarah Fornace) learns how to be an apprentice and her own powers grow. And as she becomes more powerful, the chance for a peaceful life eludes her.

What sparks intrigue is that Manual Cinema doesn’t hide the intricacies of its work onstage. And even though the work is in plain sight, mystery persists. There are actors in silhouette engaging with shadow puppets in front of a screen (not to be confused with the screen hanging above the stage). Also, movement is conveyed by an actor only moving a few inches or feet to the right or left of a screen onstage, such as a character walking through the woods, up and down a flight of stairs, or picking herbs in the woods.

Some of the more exciting moments include the girl’s thirst for bloody revenge against the murderous Macbeth (Jeffrey Paschal), depicted by red skies, lightning and thunderous noise, or when the girl is learning how to make plants grow with her powers in the house. Instead of cultivating a lovely flower like her mentor (the witch is rendered by Julia Miller, Lizi Breit and Leah Casey), the girl summons a tree that grows so large it breaks through the roof of their home. Revenge can be like that, too. It swells until there’s not much space for anything else.

The Manual Cinema troupe has been developing immersive, innovative productions for 15 years, and their sharp skills show. In the past, they collaborated with actor and filmmaker Jordan Peele on a 2021 rendition of “Candyman,” won an Emmy for their 2017 film “The Forger,” and recently, their production “Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster” just wrapped at the Wheelock Family Theatre.

In “The 4th Witch,” some of the paranoid, power-hungry characteristics of Shakespeare’s Macbeth course through the character of the girl who can’t even sleep without dreams of slaying Macbeth. But what does revenge cost the mind and soul? And does carrying through with it make the avenger the same as the original wrongdoer? Questions like these anchor the entertaining, artful story (directed by Drew Dir), which shows what happens when someone lets revenge rule.

Manual Cinema’s “The 4th Witch,” presented by ArtsEmerson, shows through Nov. 9 at Emerson Paramount Center’s Robert J. Orchard Stage.