Save the Dates for the Next Festival: January 16-26, 2025

Spring 2022 Workshops

Announcing Spring Puppetry Workshops!

Take a live online workshop from anywhere in the world, or join us for new, in-person workshops at the Fine Arts Building in downtown Chicago! Whether you choose a 1-week intensive, or you prefer 1 night a week over several weeks, these workshops offer a range of puppetry styles including Shadow, Toy Theater, Sanninzukai, Head Construction and more with expert instruction to create within a fun, communal format. Live work sessions, group sharing and personal feedback combine to make these some of the most enjoyable and productive workshop opportunities available. See below to select your course and register!

Please Note:

  • Pricing listed below with each workshop ($225-$325).
  • Limited scholarships available upon request, BIPOC encouraged to apply. To request email info@chicagopuppetfest.org with a brief statement of interest/need.

Guide to Levels

Level 1 – Introduction of a particular form, through its basic skills and elements. Ideal for all new to puppetry and those looking to refresh their foundational knowledge.
Level 2 – Offering applied foundational skills and techniques for a specific form. Ideal for those who have some experience working in the form.
Level 3 – Instruction of more advanced skills and techniques for emerging and experienced puppeteers.

Level 4 – Instruction supporting the use of puppetry to create or progress a short form work.
Level 5 – Ideal for artists who are expert in their respective artistic field. These offerings frequently have an application and selection process, are by invitation and are designed to take a work in development to the next level.

Find the Perfect workshop for you!

One-Week Online Workshops

Toy Theater I + II

with Roberto Rossi

Session 1: April 4-10, 2022
Toy Theater 1 (Level 1)
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat, and Sun:
7 – 9pm CST
Cost: $225

Session 2: May 9-15, 2022
Toy Theater 2 (Level 2)
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat, and Sun:
7 – 9pm CST
Cost: $225

Toy Theater 1 (Level 1) is an introduction to the form and the basic skills concluding with a showing. Make your first toy theater stage using recyclable materials. Learn conceptual and design approaches in building an original work. Build basic jointed 2D puppets and moveable set pieces and discover the unique theatrical language of the Toy Theater.

Toy Theater 2 (Level 2) will be an opportunity for participants to further develop their shows. We will be exploring different ways of articulating and mounting puppets and of enhancing the illusion of depth through stage design and lighting. We will also look at the dramaturgy of the miniature spectacle and isolate the compositional elements of this highly visual theater form as participants prepare for an informal—yet always exciting—showing on the last day.

Shadow Puppetry I + II

with Chinese Theatre Works (Session I) and Alex Vernon (Session II)

Session 1: April 4-10, 2022
Shadow Puppetry 1 (Level 1) with Chinese Theater Works
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat, and Sun:
7 – 9pm CST
Cost: $225

Session 2: May 9-15, 2022
Shadow Puppetry 2 (Level 2) with Alex Vernon
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat, and Sun:
7 – 9pm CST
Cost: $225

Shadow Puppetry 1 (Level 1) is an introduction to the form for the beginning puppeteer. Students will create a desktop shadow theater, build and create basic shadow figures and environments and devise their own short pieces with music or text. An overview of world shadow puppetry traditions is included as well as an introduction to light sources and fabrication. The course makes use of basic materials including home recyclables.

Shadow Puppetry 2 (Level 2) focuses on the introduction of different mechanism for shadow puppets beyond the basic jointed puppet. The realization of ideas in shadow puppet form stem from concepts and design.

Multi-Week Online Workshops

Puppetry and Technology: Live Feed Video, Projection and the Isadora MultiMedia Interface (Level 3)

with Tom Lee

April 5 – April 12 and April 26 – May 18, 2022*
*no class on April 19

(6 weeks)
Tuesdays: 7 – 9pm CST
Cost: $285

Puppetry and Technology (Level 3) is an introduction to the use of cameras, video and digital performance techniques for puppetry. Director/designer Tom Lee will lead the class in examples of digital performance forms, including his own work that combines live puppetry, miniatures and projection. In addition, the instructor will teach fundamentals of the Isadora digital interface, software essential to creating his stage work.

Requirements:

  • Desktop or laptop computer (Mac platform preferred: Computer must be able to support Isadora 3)
  • External USB camera or internal camera
  • Isadora 3 (monthly rental available at $17.50) 


Optional software/hardware
:

  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Adobe After Effects
  • External Monitor or Video Projector

 

History of Object Performance in the Black Atlantic (Level 1)

with Dr. Paulette Richards

April 7 – May 26, 2022
(8 weeks)
Thursdays: 6 – 7:30pm CST
Cost: $285

History of Object Performance in the Black Atlantic (Level 1), taught by Dr. Paulette Richards (co-curator of the “Living Objects: African American Puppetry” exhibit), is an 8-week journey through “Selected Topics in African American Object Performance.” Beginning in the Jim Crow era with African American puppetry in schools, libraries, and churches, we will examine object performance as a powerful tool Black people have used effectively for education and community building. Academics will receive resources to enhance their teaching and research with information about a little known aspect of American Theater History. Practitioners will find plentiful opportunities to draw creative inspiration from contemporary African American puppet theater artists, filmmakers, visual artists, and spectacle dramas associated with New Orleans Mardi Gras traditions. Lifelong learners are invited to engage with a unique perspective on current discussions of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the theater industry by exploring the careers of African American artists who have used object performance as a strategy of resistance to the objectification of Black bodies.

In-Person Workshops

Materials & Techniques: Constructing a Professional Puppet Head (Level 2)

with Mark Blashford

April 7 – May 12, 2022
(6 weeks)
Thursdays: 6 – 8pm CST
Cost: $385*

*The price of this class includes materials

Location: Fine Arts Building
410 S. Michigan Ave, 4th Floor
Chicago, IL 60605

Materials & Techniques (Level 2) is a design and fabrication course for the puppet craftsperson. Learn invaluable professional techniques in sculpture, mold-making, and casting through the process of creating expressive, stage-ready puppet heads. The price of this class includes materials.

Shadow Puppetry on Overhead Projectors
(Level 1)

with Myra Su

April 19 – May 17, 2022
(5 weeks)
Tuesdays: 6 – 8pm CST
Cost: $285

Location: Fine Arts Building
410 S. Michigan Ave, 4th Floor
Chicago, IL 60605

Shadow Puppetry on Overhead Projectors (Level 1) is an introduction to shadow puppet techniques specifically geared for the overhead projector. Students will learn ways they can approach making background slides, articulated shadow puppets, and using found objects. We will also explore how the overhead projector itself can be used to create certain visual effects. Finally, we’ll review some tips and tricks when it comes to the logistics of mounting a live performance in this medium. The goal is that by the last session, everyone will be able to share and give feedback on short puppet pieces that they develop over the class period.

Creating a Solo Act with Puppets (Level 3)

with Vanessa Valliere

April 6 – May 11, 2022
(6 weeks)
Wednesdays: 6 – 8pm CST
Cost: $285

Location: Fine Arts Building
410 S. Michigan Ave, 4th Floor
Chicago, IL 60605

Creating a Solo Act with Puppets (Level 3) is for people who want to make a solo act with puppets. It is intended both for people who have a zygote of an idea already and for those who are looking for a way into the process of generating something new. The focus will be on creating work as well as fine tuning presentation and performance. Over the course of 6 weeks, students will create a three to five minute piece that will be suitable for presentation, or will simply be the stepping stone to longer works. There will be an emphasis on pursuing the elements of the work that bring you joy.

Sanninzukai: An Introduction to 3 Person Puppet Manipulation (Level 1)

with Tom Lee

May 20 – 22, 2022
(Weekend Intensive)
Friday: 6 – 9:30pm; Saturday: 10am – 3pm; and Sunday: 10am – 3pm
Cost: $285

Location: Fine Arts Building
410 S. Michigan Ave, 4th Floor
Chicago, IL 60605

Sanninzukai: An Introduction to 3 Person Puppet Manipulation (Level 1) is an introduction to multi operator puppetry based on traditional Japanese techniques. (Sanninzukai translates literally as “Three Person Movement.”) Designer/Director/Puppeteer Tom Lee will introduce the form through a training puppet gifted to him by his teacher Master Koryū Nishikawa V. Introduction to the traditional form will springboard into contemporary techniques for multi-operator puppetry with contemporary rehearsal figures.