Stages, Theater, Theater Festival

Dispatch: Puppet Theater Festival Closes With Puppetry Comic, Joyful, Grim and Gorgeous

Puppets have stories to tell. And they tell them in all sorts of fanciful and humanistic ways. The 6th annual Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival has come to an end […]

Third Coast Review Staff /
Stages, Theater, Theater Festival

Dispatch: International Puppet Theater Festival Kicks Off With Variety of Puppetry Styles and Formats

The 6th Annual International Puppet Theater Festival is under way in Chicago and we have a few brief reviews to whet your appetite for your own puppetry experiences. The festival […]

Third Coast Review Staff /
Stages, Theater, Theater Festival

Preview: Count Down the Days (6!) to the 6th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

A revolt of the animals to save the planet. The adventures of a marooned astronaut. The creation of an Afro-futurist Pinocchio. A monster who can’t scare a scaredycat. Urban youth […]

Nancy S Bishop /
Review, Stages, Theater, Theater Festival

Dispatch: Midwest Premiere of Morisseau Play Highlights Milwaukee Black Theatre Festival

At a time when many regional theater companies are pulling back on their operations due to funding and other issues, Milwaukee’s Black Theatre Festival has expanded from one week to […]

Anne Siegel /
Stages, Theater, Theater Festival

Preview: Wisconsin’s American Players Theatre Begins Season of Classic and Contemporary Plays

Summer’s outdoor pleasures abound throughout the Midwest and, for many, the season opening at American Players Theatre (APT) in Spring Green, Wis., is an invitation to frisk in forest merriment. […]

Anne Siegel /
Stages, Theater, Theater Festival

Dispatch: Puppet Fest Wraps Up With Shows Garish, Gorgeous and Grand Guignol

Chicago’s 5th annual International Puppet Theater Festival wrapped up this weekend after presenting more than 100 puppet productions and events around the city. The final production was an inventive staging […]

Third Coast Review Staff /
Stages, Theater, Theater Festival

Dispatch: Puppet Theater Festival Opens With Moby Dick, Tells Comic and Dramatic Stories Through Puppetry

Chicago’s 5th annual International Puppet Theater Festival opened with a dramatic splash last week with a French-Norwegian production of Moby Dick at the beautifully refurbished Studebaker Theater. Productions are being […]

Third Coast Review Staff /
Preview, Stages, Theater Festival

Preview: Get Ready for 12 Straight Days of Puppetry From Chicago and the World at the 5th Annual International Puppet Festival

The 5th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, the largest of its kind in North America, begins next Wednesday, January 18, and runs through Sunday, January 29, at venues large and […]

Nancy S Bishop /
Circus, Comedy, Dance, Stages, Theater, Theater Festival

Preview: Chicago Circus and Performing Arts Festival Premieres April 21-24

Life’s been a circus over the last two years, so we might as well lean into it. Welcome to the Chicago Circus & Performing Arts Festival, the Windy City’s newest multidisciplinary […]

Karin McKie /
Stages, Theater Festival

Review: Humans and Objects at Play by the Neo-Futurists as Chicago International Puppet Festival Continues

Andersonville’s Neo Futurarium is the kind of hole in the wall, warren of a creative space that has made this city famous as a cultural destination, so it’s some kind […]

Angela Allyn /
Live Lit, Stages, Theater Festival, Virtual

Preview: Lifeline’s Fillet of Solo Festival Celebrates Personal—and Virtual—Storytelling

Lifeline Theatre has launched its 25th annual Fillet of Solo Festival for a three-week run of virtual storytelling by some of the most vibrant and creative storytellers from Chicago and […]

Nancy S Bishop /
Stages, Theater, Theater Festival

Review: Cabinet of Curiosity Sees Sea Change at Chicago Puppet Theater Fest 

What I have always loved about every single Cabinet of Curiosity production is that I can’t tell you what it is about, but it holds tremendous meaning for me. Sea […]

Angela Allyn /