Seamlessly integrating projected shadows, live actors and an innovative sound score, Christine Marie and her collaborators draw on the history of electric light to manifest a flickering world of natural phenomena and human intervention. Large-scale imagery from simple handheld lights and props takes on mythological proportions as scientific discovery, religious folklore and magical trickery blend into an incandescent work of expressionist theater.  Audience members are given 3D viewers for one scene in which live action and 3D shadowlights © blend to create a beautiful and unique visual experience.

Written, directed, designed

by Christine Marie.

ground to cloud

4cm@cimimarie.com

“Marie does achieve some very difficult technical tasks. Her precise blocking of her performers was essential in creating the complex interplay of shadows. And then there is the brief scene in 3D. Yes! 3D! And it was for me one of the most visually exciting moments of theatre I've seen.”

“Halfway through, you're prompted to put on your glasses. And somehow—and I have no idea how—Marie uses a special lighting instrument to make the shadows become three-dimensional. Honestly, I have never seen a more stunning 3D effect (and, yes, I saw Avatar). There was a solitary feeling to it, as if I was the only one in the theatre with these objects hovering inches from my nose. A ghoulish looking character (whose mask work was brilliantly designed by Carlo Vogele) appeared to climb over the audience and stare me down. I took off my glasses in disbelief checking to be sure that it was all an illusion—that the shadows had not left the screen.”

ny theatre review

"A major production element is the shadow scenic design and choreography by Christine Marie which are not only beautiful in their own right but evoke the shadow performances that imitate truth."

los angeles theater review

REVIEWS

A striking example of pure kinetic performance.                    

Christine Marie’s performance art has a way of

eliciting wonder.                          

LAist

Christine Marie’s shadow scenic design conjures

a literal ocean of surprises.

LA TIMES

4cm@cimimarie.com

Christine Marie is an artist and

director creating original lo-fi

spectacles of large-scale cinematic shadow theater. She seamlessly integrates performers, objects and hand made special effects to elicit connections with concepts, phenomenology and history in emotional and visually stimulating performances. Christine Marie strives to break new ground within her form while being intrinsically tied to ancient art forms and the metaphysical exploration of light. She is pioneering the use of 3D/stereoscopic shadow theater by inventing lights that project 30’ shadows that move into cubic space. She studied Wayang Kulit traditional shadow puppetry in Bali and is a former member of ShadowLight theater. Christine Marie received an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in Integrated Media and Theater.  She lectures and conducts workshops for theater companies, film studios, universities and schools. Her new work, Signaling Arcana, will premiere in 2013.

Currently available for performance or installation:

Ground to Cloud

Shadows In Stereo

Multiplying Spectacles

One of the most visually exciting moments of theatre I've seen.                      

ny theater review  

LA TIMES