Chicago Puppet Fest presents:
“Breathtaking fireworks
of creativity”
– Le Monde
“The Persian soul and culture vibrate in this original and poetic show.”
– Toute La Culture
Song of the North, adapted from the “Book of Kings” (Shahnameh), is a visually breathtaking, large-scale, cinematic play of shadow puppetry and projected animation. It tells the classic Persian tale of the courageous Manijeh, a heroine from ancient Persia, who must use all her strengths and talents to rescue her beloved, Bijan, from a perilous predicament of her own making to help prevent a war. This epic love story employs a cast of 500 handmade puppets and a talented ensemble of nine actors and puppeteers, which come together to create a spectacular experience that advances themes of unity, collaboration and experimentation through performance and story.
Dates/Times:
Friday, January 19 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, January 20 at 1 pm and 5:30 pm
Location: Studebaker Theater at The Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave.
Cost: $45/$35 students & seniors
Ages: All ages
Running Time: 80 mins
ADA Accessible? Yes
Funded in part by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Theater Project, with lead funding from The Mellon Foundation and support from the Doris Duke Foundation.Hamid Rahmanian returns to Chicago after presenting Feathers of Fire at the 2nd Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival in 2017. Rahmanian is a 2014 John Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of the 2020 United States Artists Fellowship. He undertook the immense task of illustrating and commissioning a new translation and adaptation of the tenth-century Persian epic poem “Shahnameh” by Ferdowsi, entitled “Shahnameh: The Epic of the Persian Kings” (2013). This best-selling 600-page art book, hailed by the Wall Street Journal as a “masterpiece,” is in its second edition (Liveright Publishing). In 2017, he released an immersive audiobook version of “Shahnameh” with an introduction by Frances Ford Coppola. In 2018, he released a pop up book, “Zahhak: The Legend of the Serpent King” (Fantagraphics Books), in English and French. It received a Meggendorfer Prize and was hailed “simply breathtaking” by Le Monde. His films have screened at Venice, Sundance, Toronto, Tribeca, and IDFA film festivals and broadcast on PBS, Sundance Channel, IFC, Channel 4, BBC, DR2 and Al Jazeera. In 2014, Rahmanian shifted his focus to theater arts, working with shadows and digital media. To date, he has created five theater pieces: Zahhak: The Legend of the Serpent King (2014), Mina’s Dream (2016), commissioned by the Onassis Foundation, and UNIMA-USA award winning Feathers Of Fire (2016) which toured in 23 cities around the world to an audience of over 100,000. In 2019, he was commissioned by Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble to create a video animation for their multimedia project, Heroes Take Their Stand. His latest stage production, Song of the North, premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2022. kingorama.com
Join our email list now and be the first to know about shows, workshops, and special offers. Want to receive our gorgeous festival brochure by mail? Please register for a new account and provide your mailing address!
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
© 2023 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All rights reserved. Site by Silver Egg Studios.
