Navy Pier & Chicago Puppet Fest present:
The Festival Neighborhood Tour fosters an appreciation for puppetry throughout the city by bringing free, family-friendly performances to locations outside of Chicago’s theaters, but areas in the city where people may not have the chance to see puppetry very often. The tour offers a range of high-quality puppetry styles in order to create moments of community enjoyment while expanding the base of puppet enthusiasts. This year, three nationally acclaimed puppet artists – Ty Defoe, Jerrell L. Henderson, and Joshua Holden – will tour to five locations around the city to present short works.
The Free Neighborhood Tour is supported by The Marshall Frankel Foundation.
Ty Defoe (Wisconsin)
Grammy Award winner Ty Defoe is a writer, actor and interdisciplinary artist of the Oneida and Ojibwe Nations of Wisconsin. Defoe co-created with IBEX Puppetry the unforgettable 2019 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival opening production, Ajijaak on Turtle Island, an eco-focused, First Nation origin story and spectacle that featured giant animal puppets and performers of the Ojibwe, Lakota, and Cherokee Nations. tydefoe.com
I Am the Bear by Jerrell L. Henderson (Chicago)
A wintery morning. A walk to work. A curious encounter. A terrifying exchange. An allegory of what it means to be Black in America. Chicago’s Jerrell L. Henderson performs I Am the Bear, based on his experience being racially profiled by police on Chicago’s North Shore. Henderson is a director, puppeteer, and an assistant professor of performance studies. Directing credits include Mlima’s Tale with Griffin Theatre (Jeff Award Nominations, Direction and Best Play, Thurgood with Walnut Street Theatre and The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show at Chicago Children’s Theatre. jerrell-henderson.com
The Joshua Show by Joshua Holden (New York)
With live music by Jeb Cowell
Joshua Holden debuted The Joshua Show at Nasty Brutish and Short in Chicago in 2012. He then took it to the Puppeteers of America’s National Festival, where it was awarded “Best Performance” and “Fan Favorite.” He has been touring the show internationally ever since. “An unabashed ambassador of joy” (New York Times), Holden also performed in the national tour of Avenue Q, was lead puppeteer in Peter Pan 360, and worked with Banksy on Sirens of the Lambs. He currently lives in Brooklyn and works for The Jim Henson Company as a puppet wrangler on Sesame Street. joshuashow.com
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The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival advances the art of puppetry by presenting sophisticated programs vital to the cultural life of Chicago. Engaging and inspiring the largest and most diverse audiences for puppetry possible, the Festival is the biggest event dedicated to puppetry in North America and traditionally offers more than 100 activities annually including performances, workshops, artist instensives, free neighborhood events and symposia to audiences up to 14,000 over 11 days each January. The organization is also home to other key initiatives, including the Chicago Puppet Studio and Chicago Puppet Lab, that nurture the development of puppeteers and deepen the field locally, nationally and internationally with the ultimate goal of promoting peace, equality, mutual understanding, and justice locally and globally.
Administrative Office:
312-753-3234
info@chicagopuppetfest.org
Mailing Address:
Fine Arts Building
410 S Michigan Ave, Studio 310
Chicago, IL 60605
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