Exquisite Puppets at Northwestern

Northwestern University has a lovely black box performance space named the Wirtz Theatre inside the Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing and Media Arts in Abbot Hall in their downtown Chicago campus.  The lobby is filled with art, and on evenings and weekends adjacent parking seems to be complimentary for the shows. This space puts Arts at Northwestern in the center of the bustling Streeterville Medical campus. This past weekend it provided a jewelbox showcase for a finely crafted work of puppet theatre and music, and you need to put this space and its offerings on your regular go to list.

New York based Yara Arts Group from LaMama’s Experimental Theatre created a work :The Magic of Light, that layers an artist’s hero's journey with Ukrainian culture and history to create a lovely delicate work evocative of lost eras and dark pasts. Julian Kytasty starts on stage serenading the audience: he is a master bandura player who in this work channels the once popular blind kobzar (Ukrainian musician) named Ostap Veresai (1803-1890). The bandura, the national instrument of Ukraine,  is a beautiful stringed instrument with inlaid wood and many strings like a harp but played like a lute. 

The story portrayed here with small historically costumed stick puppets designed by master artist Tom Lee is that of Porfiry Martynovych (1856- 1933) who in 1875 introduced Russian occupiers to Ukrainian culture and epic stories with a magic lantern concert, projecting his art and having Veresai sing. At that time the Tsar had made speaking Ukrainian or practicing any aspect of Ukrainian culture  illegal— making this piece right now is an explicitly political act that reminds us that the current conflict has deep longstanding roots. Director Virlana Tcakz was originally inspired to make this piece when she saw now unknown artist Martynovych’s drawings in a museum. 

The music and the compelling small puppets at first lure you into this tale that feels quaint and then disturbing and then powerful. Every bit of the physical art of this show is impeccable and ineffably beautiful. And then the inherent racism and vitriol of the ethnic Russians is chilling. This work becomes a fable for our time based on a true story.  

The Magic of Light played at the Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing and Media Arts in Abbot Hall , 710 North Lakeshore Drive in Chicago on November 13-16, 2025. You can follow this company here:https://www.yaraartsgroup.net/

For more information on the show and to find out what’s next at this space  go to https://wirtz.northwestern.edu/the-magic-of-light/

 No part of this article was created using AI

 For more reviews go to https://www.theatreinchicago.com