Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival Returns This January

The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival is returning bigger and better than ever, ready to wow Chicagoans, fans from across the U.S. and guests from around the world, January 17-27, 2019.

Today, festival Founder and Artistic Director Blair Thomas announced a diverse roster of top contemporary puppets acts and artists from Chicago, the U.S. and around the world to be presented at cultural venues large and small throughout the city in January.

"The 2019 Festival presents a plurality of experiences and cultures, and highlights a wide range of approaches to the art form," said Thomas. "From a family-friendly First Nations story, to provocative public interventions from Puerto Rico, to the intriguing story of Andy Warhol's would-be assassin, the productions we've selected are surprising, thought-provoking and moving examples of the power of puppetry to foster compassion and spark insight." Chicago residents and visitors alike can look forward to an even larger, more diverse international pageant of top puppets and puppet artists convening here to celebrate the full array of contemporary puppetry and to help make Chicago, for 11 days in January, the puppetry capital of the world.
In sum, the 2019 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival will present more than 80 performances of 24 shows from 11 countries over 11 days at 19 different Chicago-area venues.

The festival website, chicagopuppetfest.org, is your online gateway for information and tickets to this world pageant of top puppet artists and shows.

Tickets are on sale now. Sign up on the website to be the first to receive important festival updates. Track the festival hashtag, #ChiPuppetFest, like the festival on Facebook, or follow the festival on Twitter at @ChiPuppetFest or on Instagram.

What's New?
For this, the third biennial outing of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, fans can look forward to exciting new programs including:

The festival's first-ever First Nation puppet tale, Ajijaak on Turtle Island by Heather Henson's IBEX Puppetry, is an all-ages spectacle production for the entire family, and one of the opening weekend presentations in the historic Studebaker Theater in downtown Chicago, January 17-20. This spectacular, eco-focused story featuring elements of the Ojibwe, Lakota, and Cherokee Nations is presented in Chicago in association with the American Indian Center.

This year, the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival is also proud to announce the establishment of The Festivals Exchange, a new program of partnership with international festivals.

2019 inaugurates the program in partnership with Festival mondial des théâtres de marionnettes (The World Puppetry Festival) in Charleville-Mézières, France. In fall of 2019, The Festivals Exchange will continue with a curated series of reciprocal performances by U.S. artists at the World Puppetry Festival in France.

Chambre Noire by Plexus Polaire (France/Norway), a wild hallucination about Valerie Solanas, the woman who shot Andy Warhol, January 18-19 at Dance Center at Columbia College.

Chambre Noire by Plexus Polaire

L'après-midi d'un foehn Version 1 by Compagnie Non Nova (France), which takes a flimsy plastic shopping bag and transforms it into something magical, January 23-27 at The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare.

Tria Fata by Compagnie La Pendue (France), about a female puppeteer, a male musician and the imaginary weaving loom that presides over their destinies, January 21-23 at Chopin Theatre.

What else?
In addition to France, puppet artists and companies from Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Puerto Rico and Spain complete the 11-country contingent of international acts at the 3rd Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, including:

Shank's Mare (Japan/U.S.) a collaboration by American puppet artist Tom Lee and ?fth generation Japanese master puppeteer Koryu Nishikawa V combining traditional Japanese kuruma ningyo (cart puppetry), projected scenery and a haunting score to tell the story of a wandering astronomer and a doomed samurai, January 17-19 at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Shank's Mare

JoJo by Borja Ytuquepintas (Spain), the story an orangutan and a re?ection on our fragile ecosystem told by artist Borja González blending puppetry with live sand paintings he makes with his hands, January 18-19 at Instituto Cervantes de Chicago.

JoJo by Borja Ytuquepintas Manufacturing Mischief by Pedro Reyes/The Tank (Mexico), a satirical puppet play starring Noam Chomsky, Steve Jobs, Ayn Rand, Karl Marx, Elon Musk and President Trump tackling the ethics of AI and the current U.S. political climate, January 18-20 at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts.

Paper Cut by Yael Rasooly (Israel), a charming, funny work about a lonely secretary who uses photos from old ?lm magazines to escape into a world of daydreams, January 18-20 at Chopin Theatre.

Pulcinella by Gaspare Nasuto (Italy), from the traditional Italian Commedia dell'Arte comes the very original of the form, hand puppet trickster Pulicinella, who became known to English speakers as Punch, one of two acts participating in the Free Festival Neighborhood Tour, January 18-27 at six venues throughout the city: Experimental Station in Woodlawn, Garfield Park Conservatory, Marquette Park, Navy Pier, Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center in Hermosa and Sweet Water Foundation in Englewood/Washington Park.

Arde Brillante en los bosques de la noche (Argentina), a revolutionary combination of puppet theater, film, and theater performance inspired by Soviet revolutionary and feminist Alexandra Kollontai and her concerns about freedom, the body, and sexuality, co-presented with MCA Stage by Mariano Pensotti, January 23-27 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

Pescador by festival returnees Silencio Blanco (Chile), a silent work devoted to the solitary work of men of the sea, January 25-26 at Instituto Cervantes de Chicago. Pescador by Silencio Blanco

Axis: The importance of human sacri?ce in the 21st century by Compagnie Gare Centrale and Une Compagnie (Belgium), a poignant, satirical piece about a pair of decadent plutocrats desperately trying to hang on to their privilege, January 25-27 at Chopin Theatre.

Pinocchio. A musical fantasy for puppets and actors by Teatro del Drago (Italy), one of the oldest Italian families in the ?eld of puppets and marionettes, January 25-27 at Beverly Arts Center.

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