Come to the family friendly Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival at the Studebaker Theatre and other venues January 17-27 and stay at the nearby and affordable Best Western Plus Chicago Hotel at Hillside!
Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival features magical puppet performers from around the world displaying artistry and vision. And Fun! For the first time, the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival will present a First Nations puppet tale, “Ajijaak on Turtle Island,” an all-ages spectacle production and a fabulous full family friendly First Nations spectacle celebrating an eco-focused story featuring elements of the Ojibwe, Lakota, and Cherokee Nations about the many connections between the sand hill cranes, earth and people.
Other highlights: Dreams of Sand. Borja González tells us, with only a little bit of sand and his hands, a story of JoJo (“YoYo” in Spanish) an orangutan inspired by real events, which invites audiences to reflect on the fragility of the ecosystem and the delicate balance it demands. In the deepest forest of Borneo, fires are threatening jungle sustainability. A small orangutan is away from his mother, unprotected, and sees how humans destroy their entire habitat, causing deforestation of the jungle, endangering the survival of animals and plants.
Yael Rasooly. A lonely secretary remains in the office after everyone else has gone home. From her little corner, using photos from old film magazines, she escapes into a world of daydreams. There she is a glamorous movie star from the 1940s and finds her ideal love at last. But as the story unravels, as imagination and reality collide, her romantic tale becomes a Hitchcock nightmare. This one-woman show reveals the obsessions and dangers of romantic fantasies.
The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival is located at several venues. For tickets, times and locations, go online to https://www.chicagopuppetfest.org/performances/ and follow the prompts.
Best Western Plus Chicago Hotel at Hillside, just up the road from the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, offers free shuttle service to and from O’Hare Airport in Chicago. The hotel offers affordable, comfortable rooms, a breakfast bar and restaurant and much more. The hotel is pet friendly and offers AAA rates.