The Puppetmaster of Lodz

About the Play

Written by Gilles Segal 
Translation by Sara O'Connor
Directed by Jimmy McDermott

Joseph Jefferson Award Winner: Puppetry Design (Michael Montenegro)
Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination: Best Actor in a Principal Role (Larry Neumann, Jr.) 

Meet the Artists

	Jennifer Avery Semrick (Concierge)
	John Hoogenakker* (Dr. Weissmann/Weissfeld/Spencer/Popov)
	Larry Neumann, Jr.* (Samuel Finkelbaum)
	Steve Ratcliff (Schwartzkopf)

Jimmy McDermott (Director)
Rose Marie Packer (Stage Manager)
Carla Garcia (Production Assistant)
Keith Pitts (Scenic Designer)
Ben Spicer (Lighting Designer)
Debbie Baer (Costume Designer)
Josh Schmidt (Sound Designer) 
Lara Musard (Properties Designer)
Michael Montenegro (Puppetry Designer)
Eva Breneman (Dialect Coach)
Lara Leigh Dalbey (Wig Designer)

*Denotes a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers

Reviews

"[Larry Neumann Jr.] surely has captured the character's gruff isolation, his lonely eccentricity and his desperation to shut out the world. And his manipulation of the puppets is superb."
- Chicago Tribune

"...First produced in the 1980s, "Puppetmaster" (with an English translation by Sara O'Connor) has arrived here with meticulous, absurdist-tinged direction of Jimmy McDermott, an altogether peerless performance by actor Larry Neumann Jr. as Finkelbaum and eerily poetic puppets by Michael Montenegro."
- Chicago Sun-Times

"Larry Neumann Jr. gives a tour-de-force performance as the puppetmaster Finkelbaum."
- Daily Herald

"Director Jimmy McDermott guides his powerful ensemble through the dramatic and emotional highs of the play quite well."
- Windy City Times

"Many Chicago area theater patrons have witnessed some fine performances by Larry Neumann, Jr. over the years, but the role he is presently playing in Writers' Theatre's Chicago premiere of "The Puppetmaster of Lodiz" is by far his greatest challenge and he handles it to perfection."
- EpochTimes

"...Let me just state that this subtle yet masterful work will penetrate deeply into your soul. We witness both the frailty and strength of the human spirit through Finkelbaum’s trauma. The Puppetmaster of Lodz is an ultimately hopeful and eminently theatrical, poignant and articulate masterpiece."
- Chicago Critic