Next Festival: January 18-28, 2024. Tickets on Sale Now!

Free Neighborhood Tour

Various Locations Chicago, IL, United States

Navy Pier & Chicago Puppet Fest present the Free Neighborhood Tour. The Neighborhood Tour fosters an appreciation of puppetry outside of traditional mainstage settings all around the city. Free performances from: Ty Defoe, Jerrell L. Henderson, and Joshua Holden.

Free

Cabinet of Curiosity

MCA Chicago Edlis Neeson Theater 205 E Pearson St, Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

Chicago Puppet Fest presents Sea Change. Cabinet of Curiosity transforms their celebrated outdoor exploration of the power of the sea and the feminine divine for the MCA mainstage.

$30 – $40

Nasty, Brutish & Short

Links Hall 3111 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL, United States

Links Hall, Rough House & Chicago Puppet Fest present Nasty, Brutish & Short. This is your chance to double or triple down on an evening of puppetry by hitting the late show to round out your puppetry day.

$8 – $10

Neo-Futurists

The Neo-Futurarium 5153 N Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL, United States

The Neo-Futurists & Chicago Puppet Fest present I, OBJECT! 30 Neo-Futurist Puppet Plays. From Chicago's celebrated Neo Futurists comes this all original, all new series of short works by local theater-makers giving you a dunk into object performance and high-speed theater.

$20 – $30

Online Symposium – What We Leave Behind: The Plastic Object Geological Layer

Live Stream Event

The School of the Art Institute Performance Dept. & Chicago Puppet Fest present The Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium. The Symposium brings together practicing Festival artists with scholars to consider the intersection of puppetry with other disciplines and ideas.

Free

Andy Manjuck and Dorothy James

Chopin Theatre (mainstage) 1543 W. Division St., Chicago, IL, United States

Chicago Puppet Fest presents Bill's 44th. Bill's 44th is an original comedic show that brings two puppeteers together to create one (very worried) protagonist. Many styles of puppetry, raucous balloons, and a cheeky piece of crudité all collide to examine the pitfalls of impatience and the wonder of loneliness.

$25 – $35

Marsian De Lellis

Links Hall 3111 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL, United States

Links Hall & Chicago Puppet Fest present Object of Her Affection. Part puppetry, part performance art, a visual narrative about objectsexuals - humans who form intimate relationships with inanimate objects.

$20 – $30

Joshua Holden

Chopin Theatre (mainstage) 1543 W. Division St., Chicago, IL, United States

Chicago Puppet Fest presents The Joshua Show. 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.”

$20 – $30

Nasty, Brutish & Short

Links Hall 3111 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL, United States

Links Hall, Rough House & Chicago Puppet Fest present Nasty, Brutish & Short. This is your chance to double or triple down on an evening of puppetry by hitting the late show to round out your puppetry day.

$8 – $10

Margaret Laurena Kemp / Janni Younge

The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center 740 East 56th Place, Chicago, IL, United States

DuSable Museum of African American History & Chicago Puppet Fest present The Bluest Eye. Director Margaret Laurena Kemp brings Lydia R. Diamond's dramatization of Morrison's literary classic, "The Bluest Eye" to life exploring the destructive power of racism and the strength of a community attempting to embrace an era of change.

$20 – $30

Neo-Futurists

The Neo-Futurarium 5153 N Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL, United States

The Neo-Futurists & Chicago Puppet Fest present I, OBJECT! 30 Neo-Futurist Puppet Plays. From Chicago's celebrated Neo Futurists comes this all original, all new series of short works by local theater-makers giving you a dunk into object performance and high-speed theater.

$20 – $30

Ty Defoe

American Indian Center 3401 W. Ainslie St., Chicago, IL, United States

Chicago Puppet Fest presents Skeleton Canoe: A work-in-progress. The story of young Nawbin as they leave home and set out on a rites of passage through a season of their life. Their journey along the water to discover their truth and way back to themselves and ancestral knowledge.

Free

Rootstock Puppet Co.

Instituto Cervantes Chicago 31 W. Ohio St., Chicago, IL, United States

Instituto Cervantes Chicago & Chicago Puppet Fest present TIMBER!. Featuring hand-carved marionettes and original music, TIMBER! is about a forest: its wild inhabitants, its enemies, and the artist who defends it.

$20 – $30

Online Symposium – Race & Representation in Puppetry

Live Stream Event

The School of the Art Institute Performance Dept. & Chicago Puppet Fest present The Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium. The Symposium brings together practicing Festival artists with scholars to consider the intersection of puppetry with other disciplines and ideas.

Free

Online Symposium – How Objects Make Meaning on Stage: New Perspectives

Live Stream Event

The School of the Art Institute Performance Dept. & Chicago Puppet Fest present The Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium. The Symposium brings together practicing Festival artists with scholars to consider the intersection of puppetry with other disciplines and ideas.

Free

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