Tickets are now on sale for the 6th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, the largest of its kind in North America, returning January 18-28, 2024, spanning 11 days and dozens of Chicago venues, and sharing 100+ puppetry activities with more than 14,000 puppet theater enthusiasts.
In addition to ticketed performances, free events include the Festival's annual Free Neighborhood Tour. This year, Krystal Puppeteers from Kenya will tour to nine locations around the city to present 10 free performances of Tears by the River, a folk tale for all ages that blends traditional Kenyan puppetry, artistry and vocals.
On Saturday, January 20 at 2 p.m., Mexico's La Liga Teatro Elástico will combine spectacle puppetry with community interaction at a free performance of The Beast Dance (or The Secret Spell of the Wild), one-show-only at the National Museum of Mexican Art.
Wakka Wakka Productions (U.S./Norway), presenting the world premiere of their Animalia Trilogy at this year's Fest, invites the public to come make their own masks at free Wakka Wakka drop-in workshops, Saturday and Sunday, January 20 and 21 at 2:45 p.m., at Steppenwolf Theatre.
Back for year two is the festival's Puppet Hub on the fourth floor of Chicago's historic Fine Arts Building. It's open throughout the Festival, features two free puppet design exhibitions, and is home to The Spoke & Bird Pop-up Cafe and a Pop-Up Puppet Shop.
Free events also include this year's Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium, running both weekends of the Festival at the Fine Arts Building, and a new series of free Book Talks with acclaimed puppet scholars.
Following are details about all of this year's free Festival offerings. Visit chicagopuppetfest.org for more information, and follow the festival on Facebook, Instagram or Vimeo, hashtag #ChiPuppetFest, for the latest festival updates.
Free Neighborhood Tour: Tears by the River
Krystal Puppeteers
Kenya
Presented by the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, Navy Pier the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks and UChicago
January 18-28
10 performances at 9 locations throughout the city
35 minutes
All ages
Free
Tears by the River beautifully blends traditional Kenyan puppetry, artistry and vocals to tell this classic folktale about the brave monkey called Libendi. A great famine sends him seeking a far away river and a better life. Crossing valleys, mountains, deserts, and barren land, Libendi risks everything and although many animals of the forest honor, respect and praise him, others will do anything for fame.
Bring the family to enjoy one of 10 free public performances at nine sites around the city:
Thursday, January 18, 4:30 p.m.
Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center, 4046 W. Armitage Ave., Hermosa
Friday, January 19, 4:30 p.m.
Marshall Fields Garden Apartments/Art on Sedgwick, 1408 N. Sedgwick St., Old Town
Saturday, January 20, 4 p.m.
La Villita Community Church, 2300 S. Millard Ave, Lawndale
*new location, updated 1/8/24
Sunday, January 21, 2 p.m.
345 Art Gallery, 345 N. Kedzie Ave., Garfield Park
Wednesday, January 24, 6 p.m.
Berger Park Coachhouse, 6205 N. Sheridan Rd., Edgewater
Thursday, January 25, 10:30 a.m. (school groups) and 7 p.m.
Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, Performance Hall, The University of Chicago, 915 E. 60th St., Hyde Park
Friday, January 26, 6 p.m.
Mandrake Park, 3858 S. Cottage Grove Ave., Bronzeville
Saturday, January 27, Noon and 2 p.m.
Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave., downtown Chicago
Sunday, January 28, 3 p.m.
South Shore Cultural Center Paul Robeson Theatre, 7059 S. South Shore Dr., South Shore
Krystal Puppeteers is a Kenyan-German puppetry and performing company established in 1995 in Mombasa, Kenya by puppeteers Fedelis Kyalo and Chrispin Mwashagha. Combining traditional and contemporary puppetry techniques with live music and dances, Krystal puppet shows are not only captivating and creative but also transfer the audience to another world where puppets come alive and become one with the audience. The company has taken part in puppet festivals all over the world including, Spain, Germany, Austria, Poland, Argentina, Ecuador, and Brazil.
Tears by the River beautifully blends traditional Kenyan puppetry, artistry and vocals to tell this classic folktale about the brave monkey called Libendi.
The Beast Dance (or The Secret Spell of the Wild)
La Liga Teatro Elástico
Mexico
Presented by the National Museum of Mexican Art and the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival
National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St., Pilsen
One show only: Saturday, January 20 at 2 p.m.
75 minutes
All ages
Free
La Liga Teatro Elástico celebrates the important role of the wildest predators within our natural ecosystem using spectacle and community interaction in reverence to the wolf with The Beast Dance (or The Secret Spell of the Wild). This spectacle revives the ancient dance of the hunter and the prey to the rhythm of festive traditional sounds. Workshop participants young and old who have spent the prior week building puppet-beasts will assemble the production right in front of the audience and then release it into the public space. It’s been performed more than 50 times in streets, squares and parks on three continents, where people have participated to the rhythm of Oaxacan sones, Basque trikitritxas or Otomi tunditos on beaches, mountains, semi-deserts or snow. Now Chicago will take its turn continuing to evolve and enrich this community spectacle featuring the live band, Los Héroes del Destierro.
La Liga Teatro Elástico is a theater company founded by actress/stage director Jacqueline Serafín and artist/puppet designer Iker Vicente, focused on objects and animated figures. Starting from an interdisciplinary approach, the company develops projects that exist somewhere between sculpture, theater, performance and teaching. Their work melds street theater with games and celebration as a strategy for a new set of foundations and meanings inside the theater, museum, or urban spaces where they occur. The company has presented plays, installations and workshops at international festivals in America, Africa and Europe, including frequent collaborations with other artists and companies. laligateatro.com
La Liga Teatro Elástico celebrates the important role of the wildest predators using spectacle and community interaction in The Beast Dance (The Secret Spell of the Wild).
Wakka Wakka Drop-In Workshops
Saturday and Sunday, January 20 and 21 at 2:45 p.m.
Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted, Chicago
Wakka Wakka Productions (U.S./Norway) invites the public to come make their own masks at free Wakka Wakka Drop-In Workshops, Saturday and Sunday, January 20 and 21 at 2:45 p.m., at Steppenwolf Theatre.
The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival is proud to be the first to present the complete Animalia Trilogy from the remarkable Wakka Wakka company. Animal R.I.O.T. and The Immortal Jellyfish Girl, both playing opening weekend at Steppenwolf Theatre, have been widely celebrated, receiving rave reviews. The newest of the three pieces, Dead as a Dodo, will debut at Chicago's historic Biograph Theatre. Whether you see each of these three works in one day or across several days, you will be as astonished and delighted.
The Puppet Hub
Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave., Studio 433, Chicago
Curated by the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival
Presented in partnership with The Spoke & Bird Pop-Up Cafe
In addition to the incredible pageant of international and U.S. puppetry artists, the Puppet Hub is back and open throughout the festival. It’s the perfect place to relax between shows, meet up with friends, make new ones, and learn more about contemporary puppetry.
Attractions include:
The Spoke & Bird Pop-Up Cafe
Stop by The Spoke & Bird Pop-Up Cafe if you’re coming to a show at the Studebaker Theater, workshops, readings and special events in the Fine Arts Building, or any Puppet Fest show downtown. Enjoy coffee, tea, winter soups and baked treats in a cozy, puppet-inspired setting, and check out the surrounding exhibits.
(Cafe hours: Friday, January 19, 10 a.m-10 p.m.; Saturday, January 20, 9 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday, January 21, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Closed Monday, January 22; Tuesday, January 23, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday, January 24 and 25, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Friday, January 26, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Saturday, January 27, 9 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday, January 28, 9 a.m.-7:30 p.m.)
¿ lobo estás ahi? (The Beasts wait inside)
An up-close look at the preliminary drawings and wild animal puppets in The Beast Dance by visiting company La Liga Teatro Elástico, Mexico. Catch their free spectacle production, one-show-only, Saturday, January 20 at 2 p.m. at the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St., Pilsen.
The Materiality of the Puppet
A free exhibit showcasing design renderings from the 2024 festival productions.
Pop-Up Puppet Shop
The perfect spot to stock up on your newest Chicago Puppet Fest swag and all of the books featured in the Book Talks.
Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium
Talking Stuff: The Materiality of the Puppet
Presented by the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, sponsored by UNIMA-USA
Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave., Little Studio, 7th Floor, Chicago
Four free panel discussions
In person and streaming via HowlRound
Named in honor of Little Theatre of Chicago director Ellen Van Volkenburg, who coined the term “puppeteer” in 1912, the festival’s annual Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium brings together puppetry enthusiasts, scholars and festival artists from Chicago, the U.S. and internationally for free discussions around the intersection of puppetry with other disciplines and ideas.
This year's symposium, Talking Stuff: The Materiality of the Puppet, will feature festival artists on four different panels discussing the materiality of the puppet in both theory and practice.
Panel 1 - Mechanisms
Saturday, January 20, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
How do mechanisms, both digital and mechanical, ingenious and simple work to animate the material characters and performance? Panelists include Matthew Gawryk and Dan Kerr-Hobert (Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities: A Toy Theater Atlas), Tarish "Jeghetto" Pipkins (The Hip Hopera of SP1N0K10) and Michael Vogel (Spleen).
Panel 2 - Materials
Sunday, January 21, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
What tells the story? How does the performance start with the selection of materials chosen for the puppet and set fabrication? Featuring Iwan Effendi and Maria Tri Sulistyani (A Bucket of Beetles), Jacqueline Serafín and Iker Vicente (The Beast Dance) and Hamid Rahmanian (Song of the North)
Panel 3 - Manipulation
Saturday, January 27, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
How does the material used to construct the puppet affect the manipulation technique used to animate it? How do the needs of the performance influence the choice of materials and manipulation techniques? Panelists include Michael Montenegro (Little Carl) and Basil Twist (Book of Mountains and Seas).
Panel 4 - Construction Techniques
Sunday, January 28, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
How do various building techniques - simple and direct, or complex - impact character, presentation and storytelling? Featuring Dagmara Sowa and Paweł Chomczyk (Krabat), Fedelis Kyalo (Tears by the River) and Federico Restrepo (Lunch with Sonia).
New in 2024! Book Talks
New to the festival are a series of Book Talks with four puppet scholars who are all releasing new U.S. publications this year. Book Talks are free, for all ages and are all held in the Fine Arts Building, Little Studio, 7th Floor:
Book Talk with Author Colette Searls
Author, “A Galaxy of Things: The Power of Puppets and Masks in Star Wars and Beyond”
Friday, January 19, 5-6 p.m.
Searls’ new book “A Galaxy of Things” explores the ways in which all puppets, masks, and makeup-prosthetic figures are "material characters," using iconic Star Wars characters like Yoda and R2-D2 to illustrate what makes them so compelling.
Book Talk with Author Dr. Paulette Richards
Author, “Object Performance in the Black Atlantic”
Tuesday, January 23, 5-6 p.m.
Given that slaveholders prohibited the creation of African-style performing objects, is there a traceable connection between traditional African puppets, masks, and performing objects, and contemporary African American puppetry? Dr. Richards’ study approaches the question by looking at the whole performance complex surrounding African performing objects and examines the material culture of object performance.
Book Talk with Author Dr. Claudia Orenstein
Author, “Reading the Puppet Stage: Reflections on the Dramaturgy of Performing Objects”
Friday, January 26, 4:30-5:30 p.m.
Drawing on the author’s two decades of seeing, writing on, and teaching about puppetry from a critical perspective, “Reading the Puppet Stage” offers a collection of insights into how we watch, understand and appreciate puppetry.
Book Talk with Author Dr. Claudia Orenstein and Tim Cusack
Authors, “Puppet and Spirit: Ritual, Religion, and Performing Objects”
Saturday, January 27, 4:30-5:30 p.m.
The relationship between human consciousness and the material world raises ontological questions about the nature of reality itself. “Puppet and Spirit” asks “What is the ontological nature of a supposed spirit perceived as acting through objects?”
Pulling strings: the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival
Originally founded in 2015 as a project of Blair Thomas & Co., the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival has highlighted artists from nations including Iran, Korea, Japan, Chile, South Africa as well as from Europe, Chicago and across the U.S. with the goal of promoting peace, equality, and justice on a global scale. Already, the Chicago Puppet Festival is the largest of its kind in North America, attracting more than 14,000 audience members every edition to dozens of Chicago venues large and small to enjoy an entertaining and eclectic array of puppet styles from around the world.
In 2022, the Festival moved from a biennial to an annual event, and tripled its footprint in Chicago’s historic Fine Arts Building opening an expanded office suite, the Chicago Puppet Studio, which designs and fabricates puppets for theaters and events around the U.S., and the Chicago Puppet Lab, an education space and new work incubator.
This year’s 6th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, January 18-28, 2024, will present a wide range of classic and contemporary puppetry created by puppet artists from Belgium, Chile, Germany, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Norway, Poland, the U.S. and Chicago. The 2024 Festival spans 11 days and dozens of Chicago venues, attracting an international pageant of puppet artists who will share more than 100 puppetry activities including all-ages spectacle shows, intimate works on small stages, even an adults-only, late night puppet cabaret.
Visit chicagopuppetfest.org for tickets and information about the 6th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, and sign up for the festival’s e-news.
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