The Chicago-based Manual Cinema puppet troupe recently returned from a week in Iran at the Tehran Mobarak Puppet Festival, where their performances were welcomed with multiple standing ovations. Drew Dir, one of the US troupe's artistic directors, says the experience was a bit of shadow-puppet diplomacy. “Right before our first show, we were handed a note that told us this was the first time since 1979 that an American flag had been flown in the central city of Tehran - in our honor for participating in the festival," he says.