Cabaret Milwaukee’s Local History Puppet Show

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Frisch Frei Stark Treu Banner

Large vaguely unsettling puppets crunch through a tremendous amount of Milwaukee history as Cabaret Milwaukee presents Frisch, Frei, Stark, Treu: A Puppet History of The Milwaukee Turners. The history of labor, suffrage, abolition and more beat a path through the historic space as a diverse ensemble of actors celebrate Milwaukee’s progressive past. 

Cabaret Milwaukee treads in the path of history with great humility as it presents a story that feels intentionally rough-hewn and uneven. It’s all very humbly presented in simply delivered scenes. The visuals harken back to a simpler time in the performing arts from the rolling and scrolling of the flat background behind the puppets to the giant dial above the stage letting everyone know what year it is to nearly every other aspect of the production. The large walking puppets themselves have a vintage folk art look about them that treads dangerously close to the uncanny valley out of the corner of the eye. The history of Milwaukee gradually settles-in around the edges of the visuals and before long the puppets feel like more or less natural inhabitants of the stage. 

The play rushes through a hell of a lot of history with a speed that feels like it’s almost certainly oversimplifying the bewildering complexity of history throughout the drama. That being said, the script has been written with a dynamic rhythm that feels very natural. It can be remarkably difficult to find the proper end for any theatrical stretch of history. Cabaret Milwaukee does a remarkable job of delivering the drama with a satisfying sense of finality. 

Cabaret Milwaukee’s Frisch, Frei, Stark, Treu: A Puppet History of The Milwaukee Turners continues through Oct. 27 at 1040 N Vel R. Phillips Ave. For ticket reservations, visit cabaretmke.brownpapertickets.com.