Batman Begins: Chicago-Based Theatre Artist Pens New Play
WDCB’s Gary Zidek catches up with theatre artist Mark Pracht to talk about his world premiere play, THE MARK OF KANE, which focuses on the largely unknown story about the creation of the Batman character.
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“This man (Bill Finger) who had toiled for years without any credit. And had been instrumental in the creation of this character (Batman), that everyone loves, and is making gazillions of dollars, and he never received a dime for that and had never been given any credit. We we’re on this flight back, with my friend, and I said ‘there’s a play in this’.” - Mark Pracht talking about an experience at Comic-Con that inspired him to write THE MARK OF KANE.
Chicago theatre artist Mark Pracht
The origins of Batman are explored in a world premiere play that just opened at City Lit Theater. Many people know the story of how Bruce Wayne was inspired to become the caped crusader after witnessing his parents’ murder as a child …
Fewer people are aware of the story behind the creation of the iconic character. Batman debuted in Detective Comics #27 in May of 1939. Comic artist Bob Kane is often credited as the creator of Batman. But there was another person there from the beginning, a man named Bill Finger not only helped create the Dark Knight, he’s also believed to be responsible for some of the character’s most well known traits. But for reasons that are somewhat murky, Finger became somewhat of a forgotten man, while Kane basked in Batman’s immense popularity over the decades. That relationship is the focus of the new play, THE MARK OF KANE.
Todd Wojcik and Annie Hogan in THE MARK OF KANE.
