The next Festival is coming right up: January 19-29, 2023
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Over 100 performances at dozens of venues across Chicago
A guided experience of the Festival programming
In-person workshops at the Festival's new studio space
Civic partnerships make the Festival possible
Festival artists and scholars in conversation
Family-friendly shows around the city
Don't miss The Plastic Bag Store, an immersive experience
View show-specific program PDFs
Semi-annual benefit event series offering intimate performances, dinner, and conversation in private homes
Monthly series which offers direct access to local artists through performances and hands-on demonstrations
Providing puppeteers structured support and community context for the development of their work
Providing high-quality puppetry design, fabrication and innovation for the local and national theater community
A series of videos sharing insights from local, national, and international puppeteers and puppet builders
Chicago Puppet Fest presents:
Dreaming, Torry Bend’s collaboration with playwright Howard Craft and director JaMeeka Holloway, examines the racist legacy of comics and animation by following two men deeply affected by Winsor McCay’s comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland. In a world where comic book characters live side by side with real people, Malachi Washington works to free comics cast in prejudiced bodies while Winsor’s son, Bob McCay, seeks to revive the old comic strip. What follows is a compelling story of reckoning and racial healing.
Torry Bend is a puppet artist and scenic designer, her puppetry has been seen across the country including, La MaMa’s puppet festival, The Great Small Works International Toy Theater Festival, and at multiple Puppeteers of America Festivals. Her work The Paper Hat Game, is a New York Times Critic’s Pick, a Drama Desk Award nominee, received the Best Toy Theater award from the Puppeteers of America Festival and a UNIMA citation, the highest honor in American Puppetry. Her scenic design has been seen across the country including, La MaMa experimental Theater Club (NYC), Children’s Theater Company (Minneapolis), The Getty Villa (Los Angeles), Playmakers Repertory Theater (Chapel Hill, NC) and Detroit Public Theater (Detroit). She has received grants from the Henson Foundation, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Jerome Foundation and the Minnesota State Arts Board and is an Associate Professor of the Practice at Duke University.
Chopin Theatre Productions is a 501(c)3 art presenter and producer at the historic Chopin Theatre building, 1543 W. Division St. in Chicago. Its 500+annual theater, literary, music, film and social events are often avante garde or international. Its mission is to promote enlightened civic discourse through a diverse range of artistic offerings. Chopin has presented over 120 of its own productions, mostly Eastern and Central European. It has hosted performers from each American state and from over 40 countries. It produced I-Fest, an international festival of solo performances bringing 17 international artists from Austria, England, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine to Chicago. chopintheatre.com
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Fine Arts Building
410 S Michigan Ave
Studio 310
Chicago, IL 60605
Administrative Office:
312 753 3234
info@chicagopuppetfest.org