“Last Audience: a performance manual”/Photo: Maria Baranova
1 Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol The shadow puppetry collective performs a livestream adaptation of Dickens’ classic for our moment, with original music and visual wizardry. December 3-20
2 Fefu and Her Friends (Season of Concern) This live, virtual, enhanced reading of Maria Irene Fornés’ feminist masterpiece benefits Season of Concern, Chicago’s emergency fund for theater artists. December 5
3 Visions: A Nutcracker Experience (Ruth Page Center for the Arts) The Ruth Page spreads their long-running “Nutcracker” across five floors for a traveling, physically distanced version of the holiday tradition. December 4-20
4 It’s a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago! (American Blues Theater) ABT’s annual holiday musical transforms the Frank Capra film into a 1940s radio broadcast. This year’s livestream edition salutes healthcare workers and offers complimentary tickets for CPS teachers, the Illinois chapter of the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention and American Indian Center. November 12-January 2
5 Last Audience: a performance manual (MCA) New York-based artist Yanira Castro and her company a canary torsi invite audience members to become the performers via scores mailed to participants and home video documentation to be archived online. December 13
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