To tell the creation of the universe in three minutes is no easy task. Nor is finding, and codifying, all of the stories of the Egyptian goddess Isis — stories that are scattered throughout ancient texts, the pyramids, and in tombs. However, the Green Fools troupe set this task for itself with its latest creation, Isis: A Shadow Opera. The project even took writer and director Jennie Esdale to Egypt. And it’s the Green Fools’ first new show in two years.

Esdale takes the Egyptian creation myth involving Atum — who breathes forth moisture and air, which results in the creation of earth and sky — and the story of Isis (who is the daughter of the Earth and Sky gods) and distills them into a 70-minute show using two-dimensional paper puppets.

The cast — Jamie Konchak, Brent Podesky and Simone Saunders, resplendent in Middle Eastern garb — sit on pillows around an overhead projector throughout the entire show, manipulating the puppets. The audience watches the puppets’ shadows on a screen hanging at the front of the room.

Accompanying the visual action is David Rhymer’s fantastic score, with lyrics that carry the narrative forward. In addition to Rhymer on keyboard, there’s Rory Dolinski on percussion, and Vi An Diep playing a zheng, which resembles a flat harp.

Esdale describes the experience as “asking the audience to engage in a conversation told through poetry.” I wish I could say I was engaged in that conversation. I really wanted to like this piece. The show was my first experience with shadow puppetry, but, unfortunately, the medium didn’t convert me.

Esdale calls shadow puppetry a “distilled art form” that “simplifies images down to their essentials.” The shadows on the screen are well-defined and incorporate a lot of Egyptian imagery. The puppets are well-crafted and deftly manipulated and the cast is thoroughly engaged in the performance. Despite this, I just couldn’t get interested in the story unfolding on the screen: Isis’s love for her brother (and husband) Osiris, Seth murdering Osiris, Isis’s journey to the underworld to find him, and the birth of their child, Horus. Moreover, I found the story confusing, especially at the beginning. When dealing with material foreign to the average theatregoer, like ancient Egyptian mythology, I feel the play requires more clarity and specificity than usual to engage viewers.

What I do love about the piece, however, is the music. Rhymer does a magnificent job of creating a haunting, lyrical score that incorporates the ancient melodic flavours. He manages to do so using only the piano’s white keys because, in ancient Egypt, they were the only notes available. Konchak, Podesky and Saunders all have lovely voices and their songs were the only things that drew me into Isis’s story at all. I also found it almost hypnotic to watch Diep stroking the zheng; it was a rare treat to be exposed to the sounds of that unusual, and beautiful, instrument.

Isis: A Shadow Opera is certainly a technical success and offers an innovative approach to the telling of an epic tale. Unfortunately, in my view, innovative isn’t synonymous with interesting. That said, the music is wonderful, and it is a chance to see an art form rarely performed these days. Esdale speaks of the “mythical world” shadow puppetry creates. If you can transport yourself into that mythical world better than I, then the show will accomplish what it set out to do.