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Hundreds of Iranian art lovers gave a troupe of Chicago-based puppeteers flowers and a lengthy standing ovation at the Tehran City Theater at the end of their historic performance this week during a rare visit by American performers to the Islamic Republic.

The artists from the Manual Cinema group presented Ada/Ava, a live cinematic shadow puppet show at the Tehran Mobarak Puppet Festival, in the first such performance by an American troupe at the Tehran event in nearly 17 years.

"You are the best audience we have ever had and met. We have been so impressed by all the artists and puppeteers here," Drew Dir, the co-director of the 10-member group, told the audience after the performance. [...]

Sarah Fornace, one of the troupe's members, said she was surprised by the standing ovation.

"It is a real honor and it does not happen all the time. So I felt really lucky to get one here," she said.

The presence of the group in at the festival led to another rare event -- an American flag was hoisted over the entrance gate of the City Theater building in downtown Tehran.

Saeed Leilaz, a Tehran-based political analyst believed the American attendance at the puppet show was an indication of improving relations after decades of mistrust.

"People on both side have no particular problem with each other," he said. "Iranians in general and the middle class in particular seek better ties with the United States."

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