Anywhere

Created by Théâtre l’Entrouvert (France)

Performed by the Anywhere U.S. Company

A production of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

Artistic Direction   Élise Vigneron

Scenography & Design   Élise Vigneron

Original Staging    Élise Vigneron and Hélène Barreau

U.S. Stage Direction  Claire Saxe

Puppeteer  Mark Blashford

Performer/Dancer   Ashwaty Chennat

Ice Puppet Technician   Mark Blashford

Lighting & Technical Direction   Richard Norwood

Sound & Run Crew  Corey Douglas Smith

Text Excerpts from Oedipe sur la route Henry Bachau

Music   Pascal Charrier

Original Technical Design & Production  Thibaut Bosilève & Corentin Abeille

Puppet Design    Vincent Debuire and Hélène Barreau,
  assisted by Alma Rocella

Artistic Coordination  Blair Thomas

Managing Producer   Sandy Smith Gerding

Production Manager   Julie Le Corre

Project Advocacy  Julie Moller

Anywhere U.S. Company

Professional Bios

Mark Blashford (Puppeteer and Puppet Builder) specializes in marionette, shadow, rod, and hand puppetry. Formerly based in Chicago, IL, Mark now lives in Reykjavík, Iceland. He is an instructor in the online Academy of the Wooden Puppet with Bernd Ogrodnik. While in Chicago, Blashford was an Associate Artist with the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival and the Chicago Puppet Studio building commissioned puppets for stage and film for many clients including Lookingglass, The Art Institute of Chicago, The House Theatre, Rough House Theater, and Ma-Yi Theater (New York). Mark performs around the world as Rootstock Puppet Co. and in Iceland as Flóki Brúðuleikhús. Recent puppet shows conceived, built, and performed include TIMBER!, Kisi Gengur Laus, and Búkolla. Blashford has trained as a puppeteer in Germany, France, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, and Iceland. He holds a BA in Theatre from Pennsylvania State University and an MFA in Theatre (Puppet Arts) from the University of Connecticut.

Claire Saxe (U.S. Production Director) Claire Saxe (she/her) is a puppeteer, performer, and theater maker driven by work that stretches forms, genres and expectations. As an independent artist and Co-Artistic Director of Rough House Theater Company her practice interweaves elements of puppetry and physical theater.  Recent credits include the U.S. remount of Théâtre de l’Entrouvert’s Anywhere (Director), Out With it at Links Hall (Creator & Performer), We Missed the Train and Had to Wait as part of Steppenwolf Theater’s LookOut series (Creator & Performer), Rough House’s House of the Exquisite Corpse (Co-Director), Invitation to a Beheading (Co-Creator & Performer), and others. As an actor Claire has performed on the Steppenwolf mainstage (Anne Frank, 2007 Jeff Nominee, Actress in a Principal Role), and in storefronts, on festival stages and in DIY spaces across the U.S. and U.K. Claire holds a BS in Theater and Classical Studies from Skidmore College and an MA in Physical Theater Directing & Actor Training from the University of Exeter, UK.

Corey Smith is a composer, writer, and performer from Chicago, Illinois. Their work explores critical regionalism, sensuality in performance, and queer sonic ecology. Smith’s work has been seen at venues such as the Steppenwolf Theater, Hyde Park Art Center, the Mattress Factory, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Emil Bach House, the Rotterdam Film Festival, and the Bath Fringe Festival. They have been an artist in residence at High Concept Labs, the University of Illinois Springfield, Light Box Detroit, the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, and Grin City. Their work has been featured by Hyperallergic, Architectural Digest, and the Chicago Reader. They hold a BM in Music Composition from the University of Michigan and an MFA in Performance from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Richard Norwood (Lighting and Technical Direction) is a lighting designer and theatre craftsman having worked in Chicago for the last 30 years with such acclaimed companies as Trap Door Theatre, Defiant Theatre, Congo Square Theatre, Remy Bumppo Theatre, Zephyr Dance and nationally with Hershey Felder Productions. Richard previously held the position of production manager with the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Performance Programs. Richard holds a BFA in Lighting Design and Stage Technology from University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.