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