Manual Cinema’s The 4th Witch is a feature-length work inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth, depicting the story of a young girl, orphaned from war, who becomes apprenticed to the three witches. 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, an inversion of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, explores themes of grief, war, generational conflict, and cycles of violence through the collateral damage left behind on the battleground.
Show Roles
Puppeteers:
Lizi Breit (Witch)
Leah Casey (Witch)
Sarah Fornace (Girl)
Julie Miller (Lead Witch)
Jeffrey Paschal (Macbeth)
Musicians:
Lucy Little – Violin, Vocals
Lia Kohl – Cello, Vocals
Alicia Walter – Keys, Guitar, Vocals
Production:
Manual Cinema Production
Drew Dir – Concept, Direction, Storyboards, Puppet Design and Devising
Sarah Fornace – Devising
Ben Kaufmann - Original Score and Sound Design
Kyle Vegter - Original Score and Sound Design
Julia Miller – Devising, Silhouette Masks
David Goodman-Edberg - Lighting Design
Sully Ratke - Costume and Wig Design
Griffin DiStasi - Costume Assistant
Caitlin McLeod - Puppet Build Assistant
Mike Usrey - Sound Engineer
Ryn Hardiman - Stage Manager and Board Operator
Additional Context
• William Shakespeare also known as “the Bard of Avon” was an English playwright, poet and actor who lived in the late 16th – early 17th century.
• In Macbeth, a Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that he will become King of Scotland. Themes that are explored in Shakespeare’s tragedies include free will, ambition, revenge, betrayal, love, and the human condition.
• Some themes include betrayal, love, free will, power, and corruption.
• Fun Fact: In the theatre world, Macbeth is known as “the Scottish play” due to superstition that if you say the name inside of a theater, bad luck will come to the production.
and Banquo
Portrait of William Shakespeare (1610), attributed to John Taylor.
Macbeth
Meeting the Witches on the Heath (1855) by Théodore Chassériau
Supplemental Activities
Vocabulary
Devise – to form in the mind by new combinations or applications of ideas or principles
Tragedy – a genre of play dealing with traffic events and having and unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character
Silhouette – cast or show someone or something visible against a lighter background especially in dim light
Dialogue – conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or movie
Narration – the action or process of narrating, giving a spoken or written account of, a story
Apprentice – a person who is learning a trade from a skilled employer having agreed to work for a fixed period at low wages
Reconciliation – the restoration of friendly relations
Vengeance – punishment or retribution inflicted for an injury or wrong
Pre and Post Show Discussion Questions
Pre-Show Discussion Questions
1. What Shakespeare plays are you familiar with?
2. What is the form of storytelling that doesn’t use dialogue but instead the body language and facial expressions popular in the early 1900s?
3. What are some ways in which people tell stories without words?
Post-Show Discussion Questions
1. What are some of the elements that helped you understand what was going on in the show?
2. What was similar between this show and Macbeth? What was different?
3. Name the most important takeaway you got from the show. Why?
4. If you could make a new story inspired by or related to a work of Shakespeare, what show would you choose and what story would you tell?
2025-2026 School Day Matinees
Omnium Circus: I’mPossible (All Grades)
Friday, November 21, 2025
Dinosaur World Live (Grades K-5)
Friday, January 16, 2026
Step Afrika: The Migration (Grades K-12)
Thursday, February 12, 2026
Friday, February 13, 2026
The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac (Grades K-5)
