ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar
Chicago's Cabinet of Curiosity's
The Cabinet
7th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival
The return after 15 years of The Cabinet, a legendary Chicago puppet work, revived by Chicago’s Cabinet of Curiosity.
Run Time: 60 minutes. Suggested for ages 14+
REVIEW
By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara
The Cabinet is an absolute must see! Don’t miss this somnambulist nightmare massacre. Cabinet of Curiosity’s The Cabinet is a bloody good time! We adored this visually stunning, deviant delight, with multiple puppet styles. Highly recommended. ★★★★ Four out of four stars.
It was my great pleasure to catch opening night of Cabinet of Curiosity's short run remount of The Cabinet as part of this year's Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival. There's no Narnia at the back of this wardrobe, but an exciting tale of murder, mayhem, and psychiatric care with questionable morals, based on the 1919 German Expressionist silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Back and bigger than ever, The Cabinet is a gargantuan dresser containing worlds of wonder and multiple styles of puppetry, from creepy 3 dimensional paper mache creations, to shadow puppets, 2D stick puppets, scroll work, and even a giant pop-up book.
We love that the puppeteers are a vital and visible part of this production in stark black and white. Their talent and timing was impressive, even down to the multilevel puppeteering spaces and climbing skills involved in some of the space changes. Utterly impressive!
We saw several of Redmoon Theatre's renditions of this incredible piece back in the day, and are so excited Cabinet of Curiosity is bringing this tale back to life! We've covered many of Cabinet of Curiosity's shows and spectacles over the years, and we've even shots lots of behind the scenes photos and videos of their works in progress. For years before that we extensively documented Redmoon's epic installations and community rituals, including making-of previews and documented performances. Their collaborative style and penchant for spectacle make them longtime favorites of ours. If you can't make it out for this short 3 day run, rumor has it they have a fall remount in the works and are planning on a longer October run!
The delightfully askew set design and puppets are visually stunning and we love the victrola playing out this story in vintage record form. Kudos to the entire cast, crew, and creatives. You've done Chicago proud on an international playing field!
Back in the day, we caught the original Redmoon Theatre production of The Cabinet in 2005 and their remount 15 years ago, and covered both in depth at ChiIL Mama & ChiIL Live Shows. You'll never look at an armoire (or the hundred year old, black and white film this show is based on) quite the same way again. Don't miss this! Highly recommended. ★★★★ Four out of four stars.
Bonnie is a Chicago based writer, theatre critic, photographer, artist, and Mama to 2 amazing adults. She owns two websites where she publishes frequently: ChiILLiveShows.com (adult) & ChiILMama.com (family friendly).
It’s been 15 years since Chicago has seen The Cabinet, the story of the murderous Dr. Caligari and his somnambulist slave Cesare set in an off-kilter world of puppetry and intricate machinery. Evoking the 1919 German Expressionist silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, inspired by the original Redmoon Theatre production from 2005, Cabinet of Curiosity’s Frank Maugeri is creating another abstract “cabinet of curiosities” in which puppeteers manipulate the characters and objects, just as Caligari controlled Cesare’s plight.
It’s been 15 years since Chicago has seen The Cabinet, the story of the murderous Dr. Caligari and his somnambulist slave Cesare set in an off-kilter world of puppetry and intricate machinery.
Evoking the 1919 German Expressionist silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, inspired by the original Redmoon Theatre production from 2010, Cabinet of Curiosity’s Frank Maugeri is creating another abstract cabinet of curiosities – a “spectacle in miniature” in which puppeteers manipulate the characters and objects, just as Caligari controlled Cesare’s plight.
“I was very eager to return to The Cabinet, Redmoon Theater's longest-running and most acclaimed indoor production, which I created over a decade ago with the brilliant Mickle Maher and Mark Messing, two of Chicago’s legendary creative stalwarts,” said Maugeri. “I am grateful to be joined by my co-director Corrie Bessie and a new collective of unparalleled artists and designers inspired by the shared belief that powerful mythical stories using images, objects, transformation, and craft can disorient and arrest an audience. This tale of Tyranny's weakness under the weight of Love has current potency that will inspire dialogue. I also believe there’s a new generation that has not seen work like this, though the original show invented a style that still permeates puppetry today.”
“I was excited to continue building a new collective of artists inspired by the shared belief that powerful mythical stories using images, objects, transformation, and craft could disorient and arrest an audience. I wanted to experiment again with the production's fluidity and intensely focused manipulation of materials as an exercise in virtuosity.”
“This tale of Tyranny's powerlessness and weakness under the weight of Love has current potency. As a believer that art is both a spiritual and political practice, this show can resonate as a work that inspires dialogue and discussion, which is my creative mission.”
“I also believe there is a new generation of audience members who have likely not seen work like this in our city, though the original show invented a style that still permeates the puppetry artist community today. I wanted to return to the experiment to see how it resonates with a new, young, curious audience.”
The Cabinet features puppets by Jesse Mooney-Bullock, whose work has been seen in Chicago for the past 23 years, starting with Redmoon The Old Man and the Sea, and most recently in Paramount Theatre’s production of Disney’s Frozen. The cast features Gabrielle Frabotta, Danielle H. Gennaoui, Abby Palen, Jacinda Ratcliffe, Sion Silva, Allyce Torres and Dustin Valenta. The production team includes Frank Maugeri, creator/co-director; Corrie Bessie, co-director; Mickle Maher, writer; Mark Messing, composer; Kass Copeland, scenic painter and collage artist; Diane Fairchild, lights; Brandin Hurley; shadow animations; Liviu Pasare, projections; Janet Eckleberger,costumes; Shawn Ketchum Johnson, scenic engineer and designer; D C Krause, scenic engineer, designer and set build manager.
The 2024 production of The Cabinet was inspired by a 2010 show Maugeri created and directed at the now defunct Redmoon Theater. The “Spectacle in Miniature” was Redmoon’s most acclaimed indoor show and its longest running production. It toured to Brazil as well. This recent production was made cooperatively with a largely new team of designers, builders, engineers and makers. The show was and is a meditation on tyranny’s weakness over love. It returns Frank to his immense curiosity of ritual, transforming mundane objects into mystical materials, and chasing aesthetic arrest and the power of awe.
The Cabinet Cast Bios
Gabrielle Frabotta ENSEMBLE (she/her) Gabrielle arrived in Chicago in 2021 as a portraiture painter, to attend The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. As a personal experiment she leapt into performance and puppetry under the much-appreciated guidance of Blair Thomas. She’s been committed to embracing an interdisciplinary art practice since 2022- including but not limited to- seeking publication for her working series of children’s books, welding steel and painted papier mâché installations, and inserting herself into live performance. Gabrielle intends to continue challenging herself to step into her full range of expression as her career unfolds, and guiding others to do the same. In 2023 she had the opportunity to background sing and dance for Teatro ZinZanni Circus and Cabarete Zazou’s Liv Warfield. Additionally, she served as a production assistant for Théâtre De l’Entrouvert’s ‘Anywhere’ during the 2023 Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival. She would like to extend a special thanks to her friends and family for their unwavering faith in her creative process, as well as to Cabinet of Curiosity’s Frank Maugeri for his vision of his politically poignant remount of ‘The Cabinet’, to which she feels honored to announce will be her first official theatrical debut.
Danielle H. Gennaoui ENSEMBLE Danielle (she/her) is a Lebanese American circus and theatre artist from St. Louis, MO. Specializing in aerial arts, partner acrobatics, and physical theatre, Danielle has been coaching, performing, and choreographing professionally for over 12 years. Since she was little, Danielle loved to direct plays in her parents’ basement, climb every tree in sight, and spin around in circles until she fell over. Fortunately, not much has changed (though the falling over is fewer and further between). Danielle took her first aerial class in 2008 and immediately fell in love with circus arts while training at The Actors Gymnasium. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre, focus in directing and performance, from the Jordan College of Fine Arts at Butler University and is a graduate of The Aloft Circus Arts Full-Time Training Program (Major: Lyra). Currently based in Chicago, IL, Danielle is proud to have created new work, performed, and coached with: The Actors Gymnasium, Aloft Circus Arts, Circus Harmony, Chicago Center for Dynamic Circus, MSA & Circus Arts, Gravity Aerial Arts, Thodos Dance Chicago, Apple Tree Theatre, Sussurus Performance Group, and The Alexandrinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. [daniellegennaoui.com]
Jacinda Ratcliffe ENSEMBLE Jacinda (she/her) is a Chicago-based performing artist and Jeff-nominated choreographer. She is an ensemble member with Lucky Plush Productions with which she has toured nationally and performed on various Chicago stages including the Harris Theater, Pritzker Pavilion, and Steppenwolf 1700. Recent performing credits include Actor 1 in PORTAL (Lookingglass Theatre); Tish/Kylie (u/s) in THE LOVE OBJECT (The Story Theatre); Puppeteer in DRIFT TO SLEEP (Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival) as part of Little Amal’s Walk Across America in 2023; Echo 1 in GET OUT ALIVE (California Center for the Arts, Escondido); and Grim Reaper in Happy Songs About Unhappy Things (independent film produced by Jamie Foxx & Detari Turner) which premiered at Cinequest Film Festival in 2024. Choreographic & Movement Direction credits include PRELUDE TO A KISS (Milwaukee Repertory Theatre), LAVENDER MEN (About Face Theatre), THE ISLAND (Court Theatre); GET OUT ALIVE (Haven Theatre); LADY FROM THE SEA (Court Theatre); LACED (About Face Theatre); MLIMA’S TALE (Griffin Theatre). She is on faculty at the Actor’s Gymnasium and Chicago Movement Collective, the latter of which she also serves as Collective Manager & sits on the Board of Directors. Ratcliffe graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in Dance and Psychology. Upon graduating, she studied on scholarship at Lou Conte Dance Studio, under Claire Bataille. She received additional dance training through intensives with The Washington School of Ballet, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Ballet Hispánico, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. She is represented by Big Mouth Talent. More at jacindaracliffe.com
Sion Silva ENSEMBLE Sion is a non-binary Chicago based visual artist, puppet maker and performer whose personal work specializes in the philosophy of myth and the macabre. Their practice dubbed "The Graveyard of Eden" is a lifelong spiritual journey in which they manifest their own personal mythology into physical art as artifacts, manuscripts and performative renditions. Outside of their personal work they are a freelance art and puppetry fabricator, working through Chicago Puppet Studio, Manual Cinema, Rough House, Tom Lee, Mary Zimmerman, Whitesnake Productions, Drury Lane, Kehoe Designs and Pretorius Studios. Alongside all of this they are a part of Rabbitfoot Puppetry a collective focused on devising narrative driven weird and spectacular giant puppets. With Rabbitfoot, they have developed and performed shows for Electric Forest, New Orleans Giant Puppetry Festival, Southeastern Regional Puppetry Conference (Puppet Paradise), Night Out in the Parks, Nightmare on Clark Street and other small commissions. They are also an Art Institute alumnus and have been living in Chicago since 2016. To them art is a perpetual practice of purifying the soul.
Allyce Torres ENSEMBLE Allie (she/her) is an actor, powerlifter, and puppeteer originally from San Diego, CA. She has worked with companies such as Steep, [producing body], Chicago Children’s Theatre, 16th Street Theatre, Cabinet of Curiosity, Teatro Vista, The Passage, and Lookingglass. She is proudly represented by Big Mouth Talent.
Dustin Valenta ENSEMBLE Dustin (he/him) returns to the Cabinet (from its last production at Redmoon, which also toured Brazil), and is thrilled to be reimagining it with this incredible crew. He was born in Vermont and grew up in Minnesota. As a traveling yoga teacher, Dustin spent four years living all over the world from Australia to Italy, and he is the 2019 USA Yoga National Champion. Education: MFA DePaul University, The School at Steppenwolf and the Stella Adler Physical Theatre training program. Select Theatre: Inanimate (Theater Wit), Mesmerized (Chicago Children’s Theatre), The Secret Lives of Coats (Red Eye Theatre, Minneapolis) The History of Invulnerability (Six Points Theatre, St. Paul), The Feast: An Intimate Tempest (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre). Film: Ponderosa, Beyond Belief. TV: Crisis. Dustin is represented by the great team at DDO. Thanks to Frank, Corrie, V, MR, MD, SE, and SD. Love to Marbles.
Abby Palen ENSEMBLE UNDERSTUDY- (they/them) Abby is a director, designer, and performer based in Chicago, IL. Abby's long-standing fascination with puppetry fabrication and performance has taken them across North America. For Abby, puppets express ideas and emotions that transcend the human form; a puppet can embody many anything’s and anyone’s simultaneously. Abby is a founding member and director of Rabbit Foot Puppetry and is grateful to have collaborated with The Chicago International Puppet Festival, Paperhand Puppet Intervention, Bread and Puppet Theater, In the Heart of the Beast, The Fox and Beggar Theater, and The Chicago Sculpture Institute, among many others. Recently, they have started using mechanisms and technology in their work and are excited to see where it takes them.
The Cabinet design team bios
Corrie Besse CO DIRECTOR Corrie (she/her) has collaborated with artists in a myriad of ways throughout her career. Whether as an arts administrator, educator, producer, or production stage manager her mission is to foster and support the holistic health of artists and arts organizations by empowering artists and the creative community through a dedication to curiosity, integrity, and abundance. She earned her M.F.A. in Theatre with a focus on Arts Leadership from Virginia Tech in Virginia and a B.A degree in Theatre Arts and Communication Studies from Central College in Iowa. Past professional credits include serving as the Managing Director for the Theater & Performance Studies Program at the University of Chicago, and Operations Manager for Salonathon. Additionally, she has worked in Minnesota with Springboard for the Arts, and locally with A Red Orchid Theatre, Albany Park Theater Project, Barrel of Monkeys, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theater, Chicago Dance Crash, Chicago Humanities Festival, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Famous Door, Hypocrites, Mary – Arrchie, PineBox, Redmoon, Roosevelt University, Seanachai, Shattered Globe, Teatro Vista, and the Gate Theatre in London. Currently she serves as the Business Manager at Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, MN.
Jesse Mooney-Bullock PUPPET DESIGNER (he/him) is a freelance puppet-designer and director of Moonbull Studio. His puppets have been seen in the Chicago area for the past 23 years, beginning with Redmoon Theatre’s adaptation of the Old Man and the Sea, and most recently in Paramount Theatre’s production of Disney’s Frozen. He has also created puppets for Blair Thomas & Company, House Theater, Nashville Children’s Theatre and Marin Theatre. A Jeff Award and Bay Area Theater Critics Award recipient, Jesse lives in Cincinnati on a homestead with his family and menagerie of animals, constant inspirations for life and puppets.
Kass Copeland SCENIC PAINTER AND COLLAGE ARTIST Kass Copeland (she/her) has worked as an artist and designer in Chicago since 1995. Prior to earning her BFA in graphic design from The Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, she studied and apprenticed with her father, a theatrical and circus prop designer and craftsman. She participates regularly throughout the Midwest in group exhibitions and has had solo and two-person shows at The Lubeznik Center in Michigan City, IN, The Illinois State Museum in Lockport, IL, The Union League Club of Chicago, Adventureland Gallery and Gallery Oh in Chicago.
As a designer she collaborated with the former Redmoon Theater for over a decade and now enjoys working with Cabinet of Curiosities, The Chicago Children's Theater, and other theater, event, and advertising clients.
Diane Fairchild LIGHTING DESIGNER- Diane (she/her) is a Chicago-based freelance lighting designer. Chicago area credits include work with Lifeline (ensemble), Rivendell (ensemble), Raven, Teatro Vista, Babes with Blades, the side project, Wilmette Parks District, Grant Community High School, Momenta, Academy of Movement and Music, Theater Wit, Wheaton College, Next, Northlight, Court, Sideshow, and Victory Gardens. Regional credits include work with Michigan Shakespeare Festival, Intiman, Trinity Rep, Michigan Shakespeare Festival, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Boise Contemporary Theatre, First Stage (Tysons Corner), and City Theatre. Her excellence in design has earned her nominations for Jeff, Broadway World Chicago, Wilde, and Midwest/Chicago Emmy Awards. Ms. Fairchild earned her BFA in Design and Technology from Wright State University and her MFA in Lighting Design from New York University. Diane lives in Evanston with her husband, two children, and their very adventurous tortoise.
Brandin Hurley SHADOW ANIMATIONS Brandin (she/her) is an installation artist with a background in scenic design. Her work, inspired by the seemingly eternal and awe-inspiring patterns found in nature, allows her to explore the beauty, fragility, and interconnectedness of the natural world and our responsibility towards it. Her installations, sculptures, and fine art utilize clean contemporary lines to honor the beauty and diversity of our ecosystems. Recent collaborations include work with Four Seasons, Adorn Restaurant, Comcast, Hilary Matt, Tribune Tower Residences, SoHo House, Magnificent Mile Association, Clayco, Hilton, One Steakhouse, and WNDR Museum.
Shawn Ketchum Johnson SCENIC ENGINEER AND DESIGNER (he/him) Shawn Ketchum Johnson is a theater artist focused on design, devising, and site-specific performance. Johnson's award-winning work has been seen on Chicago stages, throughout the midwest, and in west coast regional theater. He has been collaborating with Frank Maugeri on innovative theatrical gestures for over a decade (including Redmoon's BELLBOYS, BEARS AND BAGGAGE and Cabinet of Curiosity's SEA CHANGE) and is glad to have a hand in bringing this seminal work to new audiences. He is currently directing, designing and producing a surround-sound audio installation performance of 4.48 PSYCHOSIS, which will be hosted next month at Cornell College before moving to other venues. Johnson is an alumnus of Northwestern University.
D C Krause SCENIC ENGINEER AND DESIGNER, SET BUILD MANAGER (He/Him) David is an Educator, Designer, and Entrepreneur, David Christopher “big” Krause has been designing and fabricating for cinema, theater, television, advertising, events and museums for over twenty years. As Associate Professor of Production Design in Cinema and Television Arts at Columbia College Chicago he developed Chicago’s first BA and BFA program in Cinema and television Production Design. Melding a science and mathematics background with study in arts and management, Krause has forged a reputation as a “make-it-happen” resource for the Chicago entertainment community with his design and fabrication boutique “Big Works Industries” creating award winning work for Ogilvy, Burnett, Sandro Miller, and many others. Inspired by the possibilities of emerging technologies, Krause has also explored the worlds of virtual production and augmented reality as storytelling media.
Mickle Maher WRITER Mickle’s plays have appeared Off-Broadway and around the world, and been supported by grants from the NEA, the Rockefeller MAP fund, and Creative Capital. They include There is a Happiness That Morning Is; Song About Himself; An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening; The Hunchback Variations; The Strangerer; Jim Lehrer and the Theater and Its Double and Jim Lehrer’s Double; Spirits to Enforce ; Cyrano (translator); Song About Himself; It Is Magic; and the book and lyrics for the musical Small Ball. He is a cofounder of Chicago’s Theater Oobleck and teaches playwriting and related subjects at the University of Chicago. This April, his adaptation of Jason Lutes’ celebrated graphic novel Berlin will premiere at the Court Theatre. A number of his works are available through Agate Publishing.
Frank Maugeri CREATOR/DIRECTOR Frank (he/him) is a designer and director committed to the art of celebration, creating and studying urban rituals, developing uncanny visual theater that investigates universal human experiences like love, death, spirituality and faith. He currently runs his singular design program, "Parties with the Purpose," for The Clayco Foundation, where he creates interactive, immersive events which raise critical funds to study and cure rare medical diseases. He continues his partnership with The School of the Art Institute, where he shares his unique pedagogy, "The School of Celebration," and mentors and employs emerging artists to develop and execute rituals and interactive events in neighborhoods, parks, city streets and urban spaces across the nation. His academic writing focuses on the “Spirituality of the Mundane." He has been commissioned to make celebrations and spectacles by President Barack Obama's White House, the Museum of Contemporary Art, The Actors Gymnasium of Evanston, The Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Chicago Children's Theater, The Chicago Humanities Festival, the Shedd Aquarium, The Lawndale Neighborhood Association, and TED X, the Loop Alliance, the Chicago Park District, The Botanic Gardens, The University of Chicago, Columbia College, the past four Mayors of Chicago; notably, directing the Millennium Park's Grand Opening, the grand opening of the North Wing of the Art Institute, and the premiere celebration of the Chase Pavilion at Navy Pier. He developed, devised, and directed the Chicago Children's Theaters S.T.E.A.M. curriculum and academic philosophies at their current hub in the West Loop before he left to create his current enterprise, Cabinet of Curiosity, which empowers an ever-evolving collective of engineers, dancers, poets, visual artists, and educators to create immersive events. He has been hired as a civic engagement consultant to several chapters of The Young Presidents Organization, The Salt Shed, and The Epiphany Center for the Arts. He attended art school to become an animator and quickly became a pariah in commercial animation after declining a position with an unknown new television show called "The Simpsons." That drove him to a life of social work and civic art. He is a past winner of the prestigious NEA/TCG Directors award, where he studied outdoor theatre across Europe and community rituals in Bali. Frank was raised by witches in an atmosphere of ghosts, seances, and the divine. He was the Producing Director of Redmoon Theatre for 2 decades. Frank wants to thank Mike Meluch, Tony Willis, Lou Silverstein, Shawn Clark, El, and Leah for their unwavering support.
Mark Messing COMPOSER Mark (he/him) was delighted to find that humans can conjure magic together when on the third day of band practice in Mr. Koenig’s sixth grade music program at Pompano Beach Florida elementary school the class got to the page in the book where the band plays in harmony. He is delighted to conjure with Cabinet of Curiosity on the long-awaited return of The Cabinet. In between The Cabinet and Mr. Koenig’s class, he’s made music and sound for Theater Oobleck, Blair Thomas Puppet Theater, The Ljubljana Puppet Theater, Bricklayers Theater/Collectif Masque, Chicago Children’s Theater, Lookingglass Theater Company, Walkabout Theater, and a few others now on the posterity circuit. Currently he is working with Court Theater to realize a stage version of Jason Lute’s graphic Novel, Berlin.
Liviu Pasare PROJECTIONIST- Liviu (he/him) is a Chicago-based video designer creating new and immersive experiences. His work encompasses video installations, interactive design and immersive experiences for public spaces and stages. With a strong art and technology background and a passion for collaboration, Liviu has partnered with a diverse range of artists and organizations to enable and manifest new visions. Recent engagements include Luftwerk, Cabinet of Curiosity, The Seldoms, Bob Faust, Nick Cave, Daniel Arsham, Federico Solmi, Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project, In the Realm of Senses. He is a company member with Collaboraction and a longtime collaborator with Teatro Vista. For more information. visit liviu.stoptime.live.
Janet Eckleberger COSTUMES Janet (she/her) makes many items from fabric, found objects, and will do your taxes. She lives in a Camper in Greensboro with her man boy Eliot.
Cabinet of Curiosity (cocechicago.com) is intentionally composed of diverse project-by-project collectives who authentically collaborate on original celebrations, rituals, and productions. Cabinet uses sophisticated puppetry and handmade devices to develop unique interactive experiences, productions, and events. We focus on creating new types of gatherings, ceremonies, and rituals that promote community, dialogue, and interactivity among people who may not usually mix. We support multicultural professionals in the fields of theatre, visual arts, dance, sculpture, and music while mindfully training high school and college-age apprentices to become the future creators of new meaningful rituals. All of the objects and devices created by Cabinet are engineered to expose their mechanical operations so they are simultaneously educational, informative, and magical. We embrace commissions requiring unique ritual, ceremony, procession, and pageantry elements. These commissions create funding that establishes an innovative revenue stream, reduces the responsibility of sustainability from a board, audience, and foundations, trains apprentices through a unique scholarship apparatus, builds community, and funds our free and significantly discounted public work. We are committed to social engagement — both grand and intimate. Our purpose is to promote curiosity, community, and culture. The remount of Frank Maugeri’s spectacle in miniature, The Cabinet, follows several new works, Death is Not the End, Tabletop Tragedies, Farewell Fables, and numerous original rituals, including Panoramic Prayers, Pedal Powered Playground, Pedal Powered Poetry, Reflections on Fire, Messages of Hope, Sea Change, and Journey for the Sun. Our “season of celebration” includes free ritual workshops, a summer of unexpected parades and performances, our leadership of The Clayco Foundations Illumination, and our free year-round School of Celebration and Celebration Consultancy programs. Cabinet of Curiosity does not permit stipend wages or volunteers and only pays artists by the hour for design, rehearsal, and execution or performance. We maintain a commitment to being a right-sized, debt-free arts enterprise.
The Cabinet
Cabinet of Curiosity
Chicago
The Biograph's Začek-McVay Mainstage, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Lincoln Park
Thursday, January 16 at 7 p.m.; Friday, January 17 at 9 p.m.; Saturday, January 18 at 9 p.m.; Sunday, January 19 at 3 p.m.
60 minutes
14 and up
Tickets: $25-$43
About the 7th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival
The Cabinet is one of more than 100 shows and special events that are part of the 7th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, January 15-26, 2025. The 2025 Chicago Puppet Fest is the largest event of its kind in North America, spanning 12 days and dozens of Chicago venues, presenting an international pageant of puppet artists in all-ages spectacle shows in landmark theaters, intimate works on smaller stages, and late night puppet cabarets. Last year’s festival attracted nearly 20,000 fans of puppetry, a record, from Chicago and around the world. This year, see puppet artists from Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Norway, Puerto Rico, Poland, Scotland, South Africa, the U.S. and Chicago performing the full range of contemporary and traditional puppetry styles.
For tickets and information,visit chicagopuppetfest.org, sign up for the festival’s e-news, and follow the festival on Facebook, Instagram or Vimeo, hashtag #ChiPuppetFest.
