Mention Cape Town, South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Theater to any knowledgeable puppeteer and eyes will always widen with admiration. The 44-year-old company, Britain’s National Theater collaborator on the beloved play “War Horse” and creators of the puppetry Little Amal, seen in Chicago in 2023, has always been described as one of the best in the world and thus its presence So this week at the Studebaker Theater has been a coup for the 7th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival.
For anyone wondering why Handspring is so revered, all doubts are dispelled by their current article, “Life and Times of Michael Kay,” which takes an early look at Chicago. This non-stop two-hour show, a performance created in the signature handspring style by both humans and puppets (and integrated video) is truly a stunning, depressing and deeply sad treatment of South’s 1983 novel (and winner of the Booker Prize) . African-born writer JM Coetzee.
The Kafka-esque piece tells the story of an ordinary black man in South Africa who lives a life in which other people mostly tell him what to do. He is a lone traveler in a war-torn land, seemingly in the apartheid era of the 1970s and 1980s, and a man of modest ambition and even fewer personal resources. Born with a cleft lip, Michael K, once a gardener, laborer and domestic servant, wants more than a life of peace as he attempts to return to his birthplace to scatter the ashes of his dead mother, a mother who She didn’t even love him much. Back. A simple quest, certainly, but one that forces him to confront all kinds of cruelty along the way, not the least of which is a world that has no interest in his feelings or experiences.
Utilizing multiple narrators and beautifully integrated video, Handspring unfolds this meditative story in a remarkably powerful way, focusing their efforts on the title puppet, a figure so expressive that the entire audience’s hearts. Catches it. I could use any moment from the show as an example, but I’ll go with the scene where Michael learns of his mother’s death from the hospital staff; Her puppet body steps back, trembling in confusion and then sits as still as possible for several minutes, a physical embodiment of the shock and sadness of the bereaved, especially compared to others nearby. Affects a lot. It’s a moment I won’t soon forget but it’s hardly the only one I’ve experienced on this show.
“Michael K” doesn’t have the commercial appeal of “War Horse” and it doesn’t increase my optimism about the world or my place in it. But if you’re a fan of this dark, poignant novel, or a fan of excellence in the field of puppet theatre, or simply a fan of works of art that convey the horrors of global conflicts to the least deserving, this piece, Whatever happens remains to be seen this weekend, it is not to be missed.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
Review: “The Life and Times of Michael Kay” (4 stars)
When: Friday and Saturday at 3 pm and 7:30 pm, Sunday at 3 pm
Where: Studebaker Theater at the Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Avenue.
Running time: 2 hours
Tickets: $40-$48 at chicagopuppetfest.org