SpringWorks PuppetWorks! Presents Macbeth: A Tale Told By An Idiot

Eric Woolfe is the one man show performing all the characters of the Dora nominated performance Macbeth: A Tale Told By An Idiot.

Had enough of the serious side of Shakespeare? Come experience Macbeth with puppets and magic in a tragedy interwoven with comedy as only creator Eric Woolfe can. In Macbeth: A Tale Told by an Idiot, Woolfe uses many forms of puppetry to unravel the story as told by Shakespeare.

Woolfe is a highly regarded actor, playwright, puppeteer and magician as well as artistic director of Eldritch Theatre, a Toronto based theatre company specializing in horror plays featuring puppetry, live actors and magic.

“It’s the double-edged piece of puppetry, clown, magic, conjuring, the trickster, all those things are why Shakespeare has lasted over the centuries. It is substantial enough to be interpreted in so many ways and tells so many complicated, layered truths,” explains Eileen Smith, artistic director of SpringWorks PuppetWorks!.

As part of the telling of the story, there is sleight of hand and magic tricks which Smith thinks is also a delightful way to navigate the witches. Puppetry facilitates so much magic and allows the actor to play all the characters in the production. It is a one man show using masks, puppets, hands and various interpretations of characters in the story.

“He’s a skilled puppeteer but he’s also a very fine actor. He’s able to navigate various accents that give you place and class and power. But then he figured out a whole bunch of magic tricks that make sense in that particular context, isn’t that a creative thought?” said Smith.

There are three performances to be held at Factory 163 beginning Friday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. and two on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m,. allowing for numerous ways to make a meal and a show. Catch one of the final performances of Stratford Festival’s Macbeth as a double header with Woolfe’s Macbeth: A Tale Told By An Idiot. It is also the closing weekend for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

“We are learning and building seasonal programming along with our flagship (World in a Weekend) in the summertime, but being able to offer this wonderful puppetry in the fall – which we have chosen to be a match with the Shakespeare festival that is in town – you can see two versions of the Scottish play. If you’ve had enough of Shakespeare you can pair it with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels or Here For Now Theatre is on,” said Smith.

Also of note, is support from the Stratford and Perth County Community Foundation which is supporting some schools to come and see the show, allowing an audience that may otherwise not be able to afford to join in.

This is appropriate for an audience of 12 and up. Tickets are accessibly priced at $30 for adults, $20 for seniors and arts workers and $15 for youth. Tickets are available on the website springworksfestival.ca.