String theory

“Puppets, of course, can be diverting, but they have no depth. This is fine if your audience has, as Mr. Lepage must hope, childlike emotional demands. But ultimately, for an adult, watching puppets is simply boring after a while, not because they’re not beautifully done, but because they’re not alive. After the initial burst of wonder at the logistics and detail of their operation—which fades, by my watch, in about 15 minutes—you’re left with little.” Zachary Woolfe (not pictured) mulls on the limitations of Robert Lepage.