The Fifth International Toy Theater Festival says, Let's get small.

It's not unusual for kids to give their toys names and treat them like a friend. But Dov Weinstein—the creator and star of the Fringe Festival-hit Tiny Ninja Theatre Presents Macbeth, where inch-tall plastic ninjas perform a 35 minute version of the Scottish play—takes this fantasy even further: he's friend, director and career advisor. "I created Macbeth because tiny plastic ninjas had a lack of opportunity to perform classical theater. It was my dream to fill that void!" The unassuming, honey-voiced eccentric with a philosophy degree from Brown University certainly succeeded there. After winning the Fringe's Award for Overall Excellence and Innovation, the popular show (which can be seen by only an audience of 15), has been beguiling houses five times a week at The Present Company Theatorium since July.

The organizers of The Fifth International Toy Festival hope that Weinstein's success will raise the profile of their series running through November 19 at HERE.

A small (in both senses of the word) subset of puppetry, toy theater not only describes shows produced with dime store action figures, but also harks back to the Victorian tradition of re-enacting popular shows with cut-out figures on mini proscenium stages for the entertainment of children. The idea was so popular that London once had a Toy Theater lending library.

HERE's biennial festival features a rotating roster of eclectic acts, that includes prominent European practitioners as well as innovators from Latin America. The first weekend features Dick Reimer's Grimm's fairy tale, Seven in one Blow, performed on a stage modeled after the intricately-designed Danish Royal Theater, and Frank and Joan Gardner's 1969 film, The Robot, animated with vintage metal toys from the '50s and '60s. Other highlights include Laura Heit's matchbox shows, presented on actual matchboxes enlarged via video projection; Holland's Frits Grimmelikhuizen's colored paper and light show based on Kandinsky's paintings; and a Brazilian peep show performed for only two people at a time.

Weinstein also makes his much-anticipated follow-up to Macbeth with A Brief History of DUMBO. This playful love letter to Weinstein's neighborhoodbegins with the Big Bang, proceeds through Walt Whitman's ecstatic meanderings and the construction of the Manhattan Bridge, and finally ends with Mr. Weinstein's arrival in this growing community of artists. This material provides Weinstein's company of ninja performers an opportunity to show their range; apparently, even plastic action-figures don't want to be type-cast.

Trudi Cohen and John Bell, two of the main producers of this year's Toy Theater Festival and founders of the New York City-based puppet company Great Small Works, say they were drawn to the form because they could employ dynamic stagecraft like trap doors, explosions and complex rigging, while keeping their costs on a shoestring. Their six member company performs Episode 10 of its ripped-from-the headlines puppet series, Terror as Usual, during the festival's second and third weekend.

Reflecting on her craft Ms. Cohen muses, "When I watch puppet theater I'm so much more persuaded by it [than by human theater]. It's very compelling when you do things really small and say, 'Come here, look into this tiny, little box. There's something I want to tell you.'" She also adds, "Great actors are wonderful to watch, but there are only a few of them, while there are so many great puppets."—Eric Stoneberg