\u201cThe Harlem Doll Palace\u201d<\/strong> by Alva Puppet Theatre (New York City\/U.S.)<\/em><\/p>\nJan. 22-24 at the Logan Center for the Arts<\/p>\n
Join the dolls from the \u201cdollection\u201d inside Aunt Len\u2019s Doll and Toy Museum as they recreate their journeys to the museum and try to keep its beloved founder alive while Harlem deteriorates around her. Based on the true story of Lenon Holder Hoyt, a public school art teacher for 40 years who created a doll museum in her Harlem brownstone, the show features artistic director Alva Rogers as Aunt Len.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrust Me for a While\u201d<\/strong> by Plexus Polaire (France\/Norway)<\/p>\nJan. 28-Feb. 1 at the Logan Center for the Arts<\/p>\n
Back for its fifth fest \u2014 having wowed past audiences with \u201cDracula: Lucy\u2019s Dream,\u201d \u201cMoby Dick,\u201d \u201cChambre Noire\u201d and \u201cCendres\u201d \u2014 Plexus Polaire has also added a second production, this one on the South Side. In the horror-comedy \u201cTrust Me for a While,\u201d artistic director Yngvild Aspeli explores the fraught relationship between ventriloquists and their dummies\u00a0 while questioning what is real and what is fake.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA Doll\u2019s House\u201d<\/strong> by Plexus Polaire (France\/Norway)<\/p>\nJan. 22-24 at DePaul University\u2019s Merle Reskin Theatre<\/p>\n
Plexus Polaire’s main show, Aspeli’s eerie take on Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 classic, features Nora (played by her) as a prisoner of her own web of lies in a house haunted by hyper-realistic, life-size puppets, dead birds, a possessed female choir and other ghosts created with video projections and music as well as puppets and actors. It invites us to explore our life choices.<\/p>\n
\u201cHappy Birthday, Mon Ami\u201d<\/strong> by Alex & Olmsted (Baltimore\/U.S.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nFeb. 1 at the Experimental Station<\/p>\n
As part of the fest’s Free Neighborhood Tour, which this year includes two shows touring the city, \u201cHappy Birthday, Mon Ami\u201d uses glove puppetry, live music and audience participation to present the clash of\u00a0 class, cultures and expectations that arise when Jacques\u2019 American cousin Sam visits him in Paris for a birthday celebration. Think \u201cKukla, Fran and Ollie\u201d or \u201cPunch and Judy,\u201d only different.<\/p>\n
\u201cDead as a Dodo\u201d<\/strong> by Wakka Wakka (Norway\/U.S.)<\/p>\nJan. 21-25 at the Studebaker Theater<\/p>\n
In this musical odyssey about survival, transformation and the power of friendship, two skeleton friends in the underworld, a Dodo and a boy, notice something peculiar: the Dodo is miraculously sprouting feathers! When a wave of transformation ensues, shattering the established order of the dead,\u00a0 fear and chaos erupt, and the two must flee, fighting to stay together as they are drawn into the heart of an epic battle between life and death. Back by popular demand, \u201cDead as a Dodo\u201d showcases stunning visual effects from a nonprofit company that has created 13 original works, frequently in collaboration with others. This is the festival opener, and there’s a pre-show reception and a post-show party on opening night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRhynoceron\u201d<\/strong> by KT Shivak (Chicago\/U.S.)<\/p>\nJan. 22-25 on the Chopin Theatre Mainstage<\/p>\n
A Chicago premiere from a local company, \u201cRhynoceron\u201d traces the true events surrounding the arrival of a one-horned rhinoceros to Renaissance Europe, sparking an obsession that continued for hundreds of years. Through acts of hunting and collecting, KT Shivak\u2019s life-size, lifelike rhino puppet transforms in front of our eyes from a natural wonder to an object of human greed. Created with support from The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, the production premiered last May at New York\u2019s Puppetopia 2025, and the realistic puppet was also a star attraction in the recent Chicago Cultural Center exhibit, \u201cPotential Energy: Chicago Puppets Up Close.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 4th Witch\u201d<\/strong> by Manual Cinema (Chicago\/U.S.)<\/p>\nJan. 22-25 at The Biograph\u2019s Za\u010dek-McVay Mainstage<\/p>\n
Fans of the local performance collective, design studio and film and video production company will be thrilled by its fifth puppet fest outing, which turns elements from Shakespeare’s \u201cMacbeth\u201d upside down.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the eve of an invasion of her small town by the local warlord, Macbeth, a young girl escapes into the forest, where she is rescued by a witch, who adopts her as an apprentice. As the girl becomes more skilled in witchcraft, her grief and rage spark a quest for vengeance against the warlord who killed her parents. Combining shadow puppetry, actors in silhouette, cinematic techniques and live music, \u201cThe 4th Witch\u201d explores themes of grief, war, generational conflict and cycles of violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cNasty, Brutish & Short\u201d<\/strong> by Rough House Puppet Arts (Chicago\/International)<\/p>\nJan. 23-24 at Constellation<\/p>\n
I haven’t seen this raucous, raunchy multi-company cabaret, but it is a fest favorite and was named \u201cBest Late-Night Adult-Content Puppet Cabaret\u201d by the Chicago Reader, so it must be fun. It also provides a low-risk environment for artists to perform new and experimental work. This year the cabarets are being streamed live, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Sex Lives of Puppets\u201d<\/strong> by Blind Summit Theatre (England)<\/p>\nJan. 26-31 at The Biograph\u2019s Za\u010dek-McVay Mainstage\u00a0<\/p>\n
This collaboration between Blind Summit\u2019s puppets and the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles pulls back the covers on puppet sex to expose the filthy, funny, shocking and touching \u201cnuts and bolts\u201d and eroticism in contemporary Britain. Inspired by real-life responses and featuring an array of expressive puppets, it was called \u201coddly adorable\u201d by the New York Times.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRoald Dahl’s The Enormous Crocodile\u201d<\/strong> by the Roald Dahl Story Company (England)<\/p>\nJan. 29-Feb. 1 (and post-fest until Feb. 21) at the Studebaker Theater<\/p>\n
A menagerie of puppet jungle creatures ranging from Trunky the Elephant to Muggle-Wump the Monkey tries to foil the secret plans and clever tricks of the hungry, greedy Enormous Crocodile in the U.S. premiere tour of this U.K. hit musical based on Dahl’s book. The music is by Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab, with a book and lyrics by Suhayla El-Bushra, and additional music and lyrics by Tom Brady.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe House\u201d<\/strong> by Sofie Krog Theatre (Denmark)<\/p>\nJan. 29-Feb. 1 at Steppenwolf\u2019s Merle Reskin Space<\/p>\n
Two puppeteers lead audiences behind closed doors and into rooms that hide unspeakably dark deeds in this puppet comedy thriller about the Warehouse\u00a0 Family Funeral Home whose undertaker changes her will on her deathbed. The complex performance unfolds in a revolving set featuring intricate lighting, strange contraptions and scary sound effects \u2013 the perfect setting for\u00a0 hilarious horror, twists and turns and jumping souls.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout Ram\u201d<\/strong> by Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust (India)<\/p>\nJan. 29-31 at the Dance Center of Columbia College<\/p>\n
This experimental theater piece, created with support from the India Foundation for the Arts and in collaboration with animator Vishal Dar and master puppeteer S.Chidambara Rao, uses excerpts from the Bhavbhuti’s \u201cRamayana\u201d told through animation, digitally projected dance, masks and puppets. The ancient Indian epic focuses on Prince Ram, an incarnation of the god Vishnu, who is exiled and must fight the demon king Ravana to rescue his wife Sita. It serves as a guide to Hindu principles like dharma, exploring themes of good versus evil, ideal relationships and duty.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Matchbox Shows\u201d<\/strong> by Laura Heit (Portland\/U.S.)<\/p>\nJan. 22-25 at Constellation<\/p>\n
All the world is a matchbox in Laura Heit’s miniature cabaret where she performs teeny, tiny puppet shows about a dead boyfriend, a sausage fairy, a tiger whisperer, a perfectionist, a bath-loving ghost and many others. The miniature stages come to life with crankies, fire and pop-up paper engineering. Fortunately, the puppet shows are simultaneously projected on a screen behind her table, making the details larger than life.<\/p>\n
Closing Party<\/strong><\/p>\nFeb. 1 at The Rhapsody Theater<\/p>\n
Festival favorite Joshua Holden and his right-hand man, the charmingly misanthropic Mr. Nicholas, co-emcee this final evening of\u00a0 puppetry spotlighting \u201cCowboy Outlaw\u201d performed by artistic director and festival founder Blair Thomas and Silas Thomas, \u201cWhat to Do in a Puppet Emergency\u201d by Blind Summit\u2019s Mark Down and surprises.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.hpherald.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The best show I saw at the first Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival in 2015 was \u201cThe Table\u201d by England’s Blind Summit Theatre. It consisted simply of a rectangular table and a single puppet with a small, rather amorphous cloth body and an oversized cardboard head. Named Moses and operated by three puppeteers, he looked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2215838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[349474,354760,24047],"class_list":["post-2215837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-arts_and_entertainment","tag-evening_digest","tag-theater"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/A-Puppet-Fest-preview-Arts-Entertainment.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2215837"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2215839,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215837\/revisions\/2215839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2215838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2215837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2215837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2215837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}