Germany's Figurentheater Wilde & Vogel Bring Baudelaire to The 21st Century With Surreal "Spleen"

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Spleen 

by Figurentheater Wilde & Vogel From Germany

 at The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival 

Ages: 16+ 

REVIEW:

By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

If dissonant, amplified violin, brutally loud electric guitar, creepy puppets, and esoteric 19th century poetry recorded by children is your jam, you have found your happy place! Figurentheater Wilde & Vogel's Spleen is wonderfully weird. This dynamic duo melds puppetry and an original score to breath new life into text well over a century old, and completely relevant today. Spleen is inspired by Charles Baudelaire’s collection of poems “Le Spleen de Paris,” published posthumously in 1869. 

Baudelaire's words, paired with an eerie assortment of puppets, is the show you never knew you needed to see. Charlotte Wilde arranges, composes and plays the music (violin, guitar and keyboard instruments) and brings compelling emotion and punctuation to the performance.  

We couldn't look away from the demonic, little creature that seemed self propelled, and others that moved unaided. We also adored the puppets animated by the shockingly limber and talented puppeteer and puppet maker, Michael Vogel. The craft and design of these puppets is fabulous and leaves a lasting impression. The plot may be too baffling and esoteric to ever be mainstream, but we enjoyed it immensely. Recommended.

We'll be back out to catch opening night of Krabat, featuring Wilde & Vogel once again, with Grupa Coincidentia.

Full Puppet Fest Schedule, including video clips of the productions HERE. 

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). 

Spleen

The Biograph's Richard Christiansen Theatre, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Lincoln Park

January 19-21

Four shows: Friday, January 19 at 9 p.m., Saturday, January 20 at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.; Sunday, January 21 at 5 p.m.

70 minutes

16 and up

Tickets: $20-$30

Spleen is a kaleidoscope of pictures, songs and miniatures, inspired by Charles Baudelaire’s collection of poems “Le Spleen de Paris,” published posthumously in 1869. Mankind on the threshold to modernity is described in scenes played out between thirst for life and longing for death, between a romantic search for infinity and a brutal triviality. The performers are on the stage with puppets and musical instruments, while Baudelaire’s texts are spoken by children recorded on tape. The magic of this kaleidoscope develops in the imagination between actors, material and audience - a sequence of pictures and live music that wants to counterpoint Baudelaire’s vision of the world and open it for a new understanding for the present.

Figurentheater Wilde & Vogel was founded in 1997 by musician Charlotte Wilde and puppeteer and puppet maker Michael Vogel, first in Stuttgart, from 2003 in Leipzig, where Wilde and Vogel are co-founders of the International Centre for Animated Theatre Westflügel. Wilde, who studied music, English and history in Karlsruhe, arranges, composes and plays the music (violin, guitar and keyboard instruments). Vogel studied in Prague with Milos Kirschner and the Spejbl & Hurvinek Theatre, and studied puppet theater in Stuttgart at the University of Music and Performing Arts. Today, puppetry and live music are the artistic means of Wilde & Vogel’s theater, with a repertoire including classical drama, adaptations of novels, poetry and original works. Themes and dramatic material for the productions are manifold, and are always reduced to the essence, to open space for imagination beyond the visible for the audience. figurentheater-wildevogel.de

More Fabulous Puppet Fun From Figurentheater Wilde & Vogel 

and Grupa Coincidentia from Germany/Poland:

Krabat

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Krabat

Figurentheater Wilde & Vogel and Grupa Coincidentia

Germany/Poland

The Biograph Theater's Začek-McVay Mainstage, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Lincoln Park

January 25-28

Four shows: Thursday, January 25 at 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, January 26 and 27 at 9 p.m.; Sunday, January 28 at 3 p.m.

70 minutes

13 and up

Tickets: $35-$45

Based on the classic German children's book “Krabat and the Sorcerer's Mill,” a stray war orphan finds shelter with eleven millers and their Master. Strict rules, dark practices, black magic…anything can be endured as long as the bowl is full and the bed is dry. Krabat grows closer and closer to the Master. Finally, it is not heroism, but disobedience - the motive of gaining a friend and a girl who loves him - that breaks the power of the spell. A play about hard times, human falls and the power of first love, Krabat goes straight to the heart with penetrating clarity, power of image, stage humor and a minimum of words. Dark, bold and at the same time incredibly light, it’s a carousel of feelings spinning among great musical landscapes.

Figurentheater Wilde & Vogel was founded in 1997 by musician Charlotte Wilde and puppeteer and puppet maker Michael Vogel, first in Stuttgart, from 2003 in Leipzig, where Wilde and Vogel are co-founders of the International Centre for Animated Theatre Westflügel. Their repertoire includes classical drama, adaptations of novels, poetry and original works. Figurentheater-wildevogel.de 

Grupa Coincidentia was founded in 2009 by Dagmara Sowa and Pawel Chomczyk, graduates of the Bialystok Puppet Art Department of the Theater Academy. Coincidentia has produced over a dozen performances in collaboration with artists such as Michael Vogel, Lukasz Kos, Christiane Zanger, Pawel Aigner, Michal Walczak, Robert Jarosz, Christoph Bochdansky, Pawel Passini, Robert Drobniuch and Konrad Dworakowski. Coincidentia's shows have been presented at numerous festivals in Europe, Asia and North America and have been honored with many awards (including The Bank of Scotland Herald Angel, Total Theater Award Edinburgh, Grand Prix of the Konteksty Festival, the Grand Prix of the MFTL in Torun). Coincidentia collaborates on a permanent basis with the German independent scene Lindenfels Westfluegel in Leipzig and the Figurentheater Wilde & Vogel. In 2016, Grupa Coincidentia established Siedlisko Kultury Solniki 44 - an independent cultural center located in the forest in Podlasie region, which has hosted dozens of theatrical performances, artistic and educational workshops, works in progress, concerts and panel discussions. In 2018, the center initiated LasFest - International Theater Festival in the Forest, and in 2020, LasKids - a festival addressed to children's audiences. Both include independent theaters, laboratory works, concerts, student shows, meetings with artists, film screenings and unconventional events combining art with nature. grupacoincidentia.pl

Everything you need to know about the 6th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival January 18-28, 2024

January in Chicago isn't all dreary, cold, and grey. Puppet fest is back to put some color and joy into your January. Here at ChiIL Mama and ChiIL Live Shows, we've covered the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival every year since it's inception. We're elated that they're now an annual fest instead of every other year, and we'll be out to review as much of the fest as possible once again in 2024. Check out the schedule below to save the dates. There'll be plentiful family friendly and adult puppet fun and we'll have the scoop right here. 

Tickets are now on sale for the 6th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, the largest of its kind in North America, returning January 18-28, 2024, at venues large and small throughout the city. 

The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival is the largest event dedicated to the art form in North America. In the heart of winter, the Festival spans 11 days and dozens of Chicago venues, sharing 100+ puppetry activities with 14,000+ guests. The festival includes performances, the Free Neighborhood Tour, a Puppet Hub open throughout the festival on the fourth floor of the Fine Arts Building, a symposium, the Catapult Artist Intensive, workshops, and more. 

Visit chicagopuppetfest.org for tickets and information about the 6th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, and sign up for the festival’s e-news.

Follow the festival on Facebook, Instagram, Vimeo, hashtag #ChiPuppetFest.

Electrifying Immortal Jellyfish Girl A Must-See at The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

The Immortal Jellyfish Girl

Suggested for Ages 10+ 

There's something compelling in puppetry. Instead of actors pontificating front and center, people on stage hide in plain sight, while inanimate objects drive the action. What other form of theatre so skillfully and gorgeously melds light and shadows, artistry and craftsmanship, spoken word, multimedia elements, and object manipulation, all in the service of storytelling. 

For the 2024 fest, Wakka Wakka, based in Oslo, Norway and NYC, claim the coveted opening night spot, and bring not one but 3 very different, yet interrelated shows, to Chicago's Steppenwolf and Biograph Theatres January 18-23rd. 

The Immortal Jellyfish Girl is epic story telling for our time. This dystopian yet hopeful love story is a visual and auditory delight. We were awestruck at the world class artistry, design work, puppeteering, multimedia, and the original score. Wakka Wakka sounds the alarm on our global doomsday clock, offering a much needed eco-friendly reminder in a way that's not heavy handed. 

Do note, some of the storyline and characters may be frightening and too intense for young children. This show is recommended for ages 10+ and is truly more of an adult offering. The Immortal Jellyfish Girl engaged all our senses and left us wanting more. I'll be out to review Wakka Wakka's other 2 puppet fest offerings, Dead as a Dodo on January 20th and Animal R.I.O.T. on January 22nd, so check out my further coverage at ChiILMama.com. After catching this insanely talented troupe, we'll be on the lookout for more from Wakka Wakka in the future. Highly recommended!

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). 

Wakka Wakka's Animalia Trilogy

Wakka Wakka

U.S./Norway

The Immortal Jellyfish Girl

Steppenwolf's Downstairs Mainstage Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St., Lincoln Park

January 18-21

Four shows: Thursday, January 18 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday January 19 at 1:30 p.m.; Saturday, January 20 at 7 p.m.; Sunday, January 21 at 1:30 p.m. 

80 minutes

Ages: 10 and up

Tickets: $40-$45

Free events: Come make your own masks at free Wakka Wakka drop-in mask making workshops, Saturday and Sunday, January 20 and 21 at 2:45 p.m.

A gripping tale of humanity on the brink of annihilation and the unlikely hero who might just save them all. The year is 2555. Large swaths of earth’s surface are considered dead zones, and mass extinction has begun. There is a war (there is always a war). As both sides grow desperate, their thirst for destruction becomes more and more volatile. An improbable meeting between an orphan and a jellyfish girl threatens to tip the balance forever, but in whose favor, and at what cost? A mysterious man in a homemade fox costume has seen this all before, has lived this tragedy too many times, but he is determined it will end differently. Hilarious, ridiculous and virtuosic, this puppet show blends innovative projection, original music and puppetry that soars through dimensions, unconfined by time, gravity or biology. 

The New York Times called it "A 26th-century love story." 

The New Yorker called it "stunning."

More Fabulous Puppet Fun From Wakka Wakka:

World Premiere

Dead as a Dodo 

The Biograph Theater’s Začek-McVay Mainstage, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Lincoln Park

January 19-21

Three shows: Friday, January 19 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, January 20 at 1:30 p.m.; Sunday, January 21 at 7 p.m.

75 minutes

Ages: 8 and up

Tickets: $40-$45

Deep within the underworld, a skeleton Dodo and a skeleton Neanderthal are tirelessly digging for fresh bones; their ancient skeletal forms are quickly deteriorating and they are afraid of disappearing completely. One day, a peculiar occurrence disrupts their routine...without warning, the Dodo miraculously sprouts a new bone! A maelstrom of transformation begins to unravel within the realm of bones, shattering the established order. The great reversal has begun. Infused with a blend of puppetry, projections, and humor, Dead as a Dodo offers a fantastical glimpse into a future that harkens back to the distant past.



Animal R.I.O.T.

Steppenwolf's 1700 Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St., Lincoln Park

January 19-23

Five shows: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, January 19-21 at 9:30 p.m.; 

Monday and Tuesday, January 22 and 23 at 7:30 p.m. 

75 minutes

Ages: 13 and up

Tickets: $30-$40

Animal R.I.O.T (Animal Resurgence In Our Time) is an anonymous anthropomorphic organization, founded by the Fantastic Mr. Fox (the non-fictional one). Can you believe it? The human species will come together and save all animals from extinction (including ourselves)! Become a real life masked avenger answering the CALL of the WILD and join the BIO-ECCENTRIC PACIFIST FIGHT CLUB! Join us or die out! animalriot.org 

Wakka Wakka Productions, Inc. is a non-profit visual theater company based in New York City and Oslo. Its mission is to push the boundaries of the imagination by creating works that are bold, unique and unpredictable. The company is led by Gabrielle Brechner, Kirjan Waage and Gwendolyn Warnock and supported by company members Andrew Manjuck and Peter Russo.

Since 2001 Wakka Wakka has created and produced 11 original works which have toured extensively throughout the U.S. and abroad. All of Wakka Wakka’s productions have been highly physical, overlapping in a wide range of styles and incorporating elements such as puppetry, object manipulation, masks and original music. Wakka Wakka has been honored with a Drama Desk Award, an Obie Award and two UNIMA Citations of Excellence, and nominated for four Drama Desk Awards, a Helen Hayes Award and a Hawes Design Award. wakkawakka.org

Everything you need to know about the 6th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival January 18-28, 2024

January in Chicago isn't all dreary, cold, and grey. Puppet fest is back to put some color and joy into your January. Here at ChiIL Mama and ChiIL Live Shows, we've covered the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival every year since it's inception. We're elated that they're now an annual fest instead of every other year, and we'll be out to review as much of the fest as possible once again in 2024. Check out the schedule below to save the dates. There'll be plentiful family friendly and adult puppet fun and we'll have the scoop right here. 

Check back with us at ChiILMama.com and ChiILLiveShows.com like we vote in Chi, IL... early and often. Full Puppet Fest Schedule, including video clips of the productions HERE: https://www.chiilmama.com/2023/11/save-dates-6th-chicago-international.html

Tickets are now on sale for the 6th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, the largest of its kind in North America, returning January 18-28, 2024, at venues large and small throughout the city. 

The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival is the largest event dedicated to the art form in North America. In the heart of winter, the Festival spans 11 days and dozens of Chicago venues, sharing 100+ puppetry activities with 14,000+ guests. The festival includes performances, the Free Neighborhood Tour, a Puppet Hub open throughout the festival on the fourth floor of the Fine Arts Building, a symposium, the Catapult Artist Intensive, workshops, and more. 

Visit chicagopuppetfest.org for tickets and information about the 6th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, and sign up for the festival’s e-news.

Follow the festival on Facebook, Instagram, Vimeo, hashtag #ChiPuppetFest.

FEST ALERT: The 26th Annual Fillet of Solo Festival Via Lifeline Theatre Through January 22nd, 2023

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Lifeline Theatre's 26th Annual 

Fillet of Solo Festival 

Celebrating the breadth of Chicago's enduring storytelling and live lit scene, Lifeline brings together a dozen storytelling collectives and numerous solo performers for a two-week, multi-venue selection of powerful, personal stories. Come get your fill!

The 26th Annual Fillet of Solo Festival features solo performances by:

80 Minutes Around the World: Immigration Stories, Back Room Stories, Jimmy Carrane, Julie Danis, Ann Filmer, GeNarrations, Kevin Gladish, John Hahm, June Huitt, Is this a thing?, Loose Chicks, The Lifeline Storytelling Project, Maria Kostas, Mia McCullough, Errol McLendon, Geneva Norman, OUTspoken!, Paul Pasulka, R.C. Riley, Sarah Ruthless, Serving the Sentence, Connie Shirakawa, Tony Smith, Francesca Sorbrer, Mike Speller, Story Neighborhood w/ Lily Be, Story Sessions, Molly Surowitz, Sweat Girls, and Tellin' Tales w/ Tekki Lomnicki

Tickets for individual performances are only $12!

Festival Passes (see as many performances as you like) are only $60! 

LOCATIONS

Performances are at Lifeline Theatre and South of the Border (1416 W. Morse - a new location this year!). Free parking and shuttle available.

DATES & TIMES

Performance times are: Fridays at 7:00 and 8:30pm at both venues, Saturdays at 1:00, 2:30, 4:00, 5:30, 7:00, and 8:30 p.m. at both venues, and Sundays at 1:00, 2:30, 4:00, and 5:30 p.m. at both venues.

Click here for complete information on the 23rd Annual Fillet of Solo Festival

or call the Lifeline Theatre box office at 773-761-4477.

FEST ALERT: Pride Winter Film Fest to include award-winning dramatic and documentary features and an international program of “Hot Holiday Shorts”

Festival to stream December 7 – January 8.

Pride Film Fest will follow its successful fall series of weekly LGBTQ online film screenings with a winter festival consisting of four separate programs, each streaming for 11 days. The festival will begin December 7, 2022, and continue through January 8, 2023. The feature films will include several award winners.  

The winter series will open with the feature-length documentary PAT ROCCO DARED – the life story of one of Hollywood’s gay pioneers, remembered both for his political activism and his erotic gay films. The film has won five “Best Documentary” awards in recent festivals from Australia, France, and throughout the United States. This winner of 10 awards overall has been seen in nearly 40  festivals worldwide and will stream from December 7-18.

Second in the festival will be the award-winning 2022 feature UNIDENTIFIED OBJECTS, winner of two awards in the 2022 LA Outfest (Best Narrative Feature, Outstanding Performance in a Narrative Feature) and winner for Outstanding First Feature award in the 2022 Frameline San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival. This entertaining road-trip dramatic film involving a dwarf and his alien-obsessed neighbor will stream from December 14-25.

Concluding the winter festival will be the Canada’s DAWN, HER DAD & THE TRACTOR, a dramatic feature about a trans woman returning home and introducing her new identity to her family on a farm in Nova Scotia, which will stream from December 28, 2022 – January 8, 2023.DAWN, HER DAD & THE TRACTOR has been recognized in eight recent film festivals in the US, Canada and Australia, in which it has won awards for Best Feature, Best Narrative Feature, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, and Audience Choice.

 

From UNIDENTIFIED OBJECTS. 

The festival’s third week will be HOT HOLIDAY SHORTS - a program of eight short films from the USA, France, Germany, Russia, and Denmark. The program explores gay male sexuality in genres ranging from the erotic, humorous, poetic, and fantastic; in situations that depict seduction, comic misunderstandings, and the support and freedom found within the gay community. The shorts will stream from December 21, 2022 – January 1, 2023.

 

From the short film BROTHERS. 

Access to the films is $12.00 per film. Monthly memberships are also available for $10.00 per month which entitles the purchaser to a $5.00 discount on each of the festival programs ($7.00 per program) plus one free membership event and free admission to an Open Space Arts staged play reading to take place in 2023. 

Tickets for the individual programs are now on sale HERE

Membership passes are available HERE

 Winter 2022-23 Pride Film Festival –Complete Schedule

Week 1 – December 7 - 18, 2022

PAT ROCCO DARED

(2021, USA, 1:30)

Directed by Morris Chapdelaine and Bob Christie

Written by Bob Christie

In this colorful trip back in time, filmmaker and activist Pat Rocco shares his incredible life story as one of Hollywood's original boundary-pushing gay pioneers, remembered both for his political activism and his erotic gay films. The cast includes Phyllis Diller, Rev. Troy Perry and Harvey Milk. Winner of 10 awards in festivals throughout the United States and the world.

 

Week 2 – December 14 – 25, 2022

UNIDENTIFIED OBJECTS (2022, USA, 1:40)

Directed by Juan Felipe Zuleta

Written by Juan Felipe Zuleta and Leland Frankel

One of the most entertaining and unique road-trip movies! An uptight dwarf and his free-spirited, alien-obsessed neighbor hit the road on a border-defying search for their place in the universe. 2022 Award winner - Frameline San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival  (Outstanding First Feature), 2022 LA Outfest (Best Narrative Feature, Outstanding Performance in a Narrative Feature).

Week 3 – December 21, 2022 – January 1, 2023

HOT HOLIDAY SHORTS - Gay short films from the Gonella Film Collection 

 

 

 

Clockwise from top left: BROTHERS, FIRE ISLAND, LA DISYUNTIVA, LE DERNIER MATIN DU MONDE.  

BROTHERS (France/Russia, 9:20)

Damien and François decided to come out of the closet today, but no one believed them. They didn't look gay enough.

FIRE ISLAND ‘79 (USA, 7:44)

Directed by Todd Verow and Patrick McGuinn

Written by Todd Verow

When filmmaker Chase Hook committed suicide on December 31st, 1979, his conservative family destroyed all his gay erotic films. Recently super8 home movies of his last summer on Fire Island were found, along with the tape from his answering machine. The contrast between the natural freedom of the beach and the messages he got is remarkable.

LA DISYUNTIVA (Germany, 13:00)

Directed by Antonio Zucherino

Two men walk agitatedly on a dirt road between underbrush until one follows the other in the foliage. This short is intense and sexual.

LE DERNIER MATIN DU MONDE (France, 8:34)

A young man on Christmas Eve prostitutes himself in the streets of Paris when he meets a character who may be an angel Guardian.

 

Clockwise from top left: LE GOUT DE L'AUTRE, LOVE YOU TYLER, PD, and SPANDEX. 

LE GOÛT DE L'AUTRE (France, 8:43)

Written and directed by Jordan Fleury Kervella

Over a cup of tea, Julien tries to seduce Alan. Surprised, Alan avoids Julien. After this failure, Julien goes back to his sex addiction. Julien’s memories and imagination join to lose himself until he enters the poetic world of Alan.

LOVE YOU TYLER (USA, 8:42)

Directed by Ari Itkin and Devon Diffenderfer

Things get a little awkward when Luke starts to talk about his new girlfriend, Tyler, who has the same name and career as his straight roommate.  This interaction is funny and unexpected.

PD (France, 7:19)

A cruising area takes on majestic proportions as we discover Greek-esque male bodies in the forest. The sonnets 18, 57, and 20 by William Shakespeare add to the film's Midsummer Night's Dream-like ambiance. PD began as an homage to the book Derek Jarman’s Garden photos by Howard Sooley and is filmed entirely with a mobile phone.

SPANDEX - A TIGHT STORY ABOUT MASCULINITY (Denmark, 23:00)

A lovely black and white film about sports and dance, love and friendship, and leopard print spandex!

Week 4 – December 28, 2022 – January 8, 2023

DAWN, HER DAD & THE TRACTOR (2021, Canada, 1:30

After her mother's death, a young trans woman returns to the family farm in Nova Scotia, where she sees her father and sister for the first time in many years and the first time since her transition.DAWN, HER DAD & THE TRACTOR has been recognized in eight recent film festivals in the US, Canada and Australia, in which it has won awards for Best Feature, Best Narrative Feature, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, and Audience Choice.

 

ABOUT PRIDE FILM FEST

Pride Film Fest began in 2012 as Queer Bits, an in-person film festival that was a program of Chicago’s Pride Films and Plays artistic company. In 2002, Pride Film Festival was spun off as off as a separate entity and promises year-round LGBTQ film programming presented in streaming and occasionally in-person formats in Chicago.

Through this abundance of programming, Pride Film Fest will showcase the breadth of world LGBTQ film art – from shorts to features and everything in between - that expresses the variety and complexity of queer life across the globe. The fall schedule will include six separate programs streaming for 12 days each. Themes will explore the experiences of gay men and women, trans, gender queer, non-binary, and even asexual identities.

David Zak is the director of Pride Film Fest, a program of Open Space Arts. Open Space Arts is a non-profit organization dedicated to performances related to contemporary issues. This past summer, Open Space Arts presented the world premiere of THE KRAMER PROJECT, a dramatic adaptation by David Zak of Larry Kramer’s seminal 2004 speech, “The Tragedy of Today’s Gays.”

FEST ALERT: Destinos, 5th Chicago International Latino Theater Festival SEPTEMBER 14-OCTOBER 16, 2022

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

DESTINOS

5th CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL LATINO THEATER FESTIVAL, 

RETURNS SEPTEMBER 14-OCTOBER 16, 2022 WITH A WILDLY DIVERSE SLATE OF NEW DRAMAS AND COMEDIES ABOUT THE LATINO EXPERIENCE FROM CHICAGO, THE U.S. AND LATIN AMERICA

Destinos, 5th Chicago International Latino Theater Festival will host (top, left) the U.S. premiere of Blanco Temblor by Puerto Rico’s Teatro Público, a play about mental health featuring Isel Rodríguez, September 29-October 2 at The Den Theatre. The Midwest premiere of Pequeños Territorios en Reconstrucción (top, right), a documentary about a group of Colombian women who built 98 houses with their own hands, from Mexico City’s Teatro Línea de Sombra, is co-presented by CLATA and Goodman Theatre, September 21-25. Mexican TV stars María del Carmen Félix (bottom, left) and Mariannela Cataño (middle) star in the world premiere of La Pájara de San Juan at the National Museum of Mexican Art, September 14-17. Latino favorite Flaco Navaja stars in UrbanTheater’s Midwest premiere of his first solo show Evolution of a Sonero, September 29-October 23. 

Destinos, 5th Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, Chicago’s annual citywide festival showcasing Latino theater artists and companies from Chicago, the U.S. and Latin America, returns September 14-October 16, 2022.

Destinos kicks off Chicago’s Hispanic Heritage Month with five weeks of Latino-centric shows, panels and student performances at downtown venues, neighborhood theaters, and cultural institutions throughout the Chicago area.

The full Destinos 2022 line-up – 13 amazing productions including six world premieres, four U.S. premieres and three Midwest premieres – is set and tickets to most productions are on sale at destinosfest.org. 

Chicagoans and visitors alike are encouraged to get their tickets now to experience new, vibrant solo shows and large scale productions playing on Chicago’s top stages in September and October, each celebrating the Latino experience.

Visit destinosfest.org to purchase tickets and for full show information. Sign up for CLATA’s weekly e-newsletter for first notice of festival events. Follow Destinos on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, all at @latinotheater. 

Destinos is produced annually by the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA), a transformative cultural engine helping drive the city’s local Latino theater community to a more prominent level, founded in 2016 by Myrna Salazar, the National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA), the International Latino Cultural Center (ILCC), and the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance (PRAA). 

Chicagoans are still stunned by the recent loss of CLATA’s visionary leader, Myrna Salazar, who passed away suddenly on August 3.

“CLATA’s success would not have been possible without a visionary at the helm, a person with the tenacity and passion to bring Chicago’s Latino theater community to a level that had not yet been imagined,” wrote the CLATA staff in a program note dedicating this year’s Destinos to her memory. “Now, in her honor, CLATA is charged with the task of making sure her legacy forges ahead with the same unbridled zeal that Myrna brought to her beloved organization, the Destinos Festival, and her everyday life.” 

2022 festival highlights include three out-of-town productions from Mexico and Puerto Rico: 

The world premiere of La Pájara de San Juan, a Trump-era drama about two sisters, one documented, one not, on a fateful night in Chicago, starring Mexican TV stars María del Carmen Félix and Mariannela Cataño. It is written by Victor Salinas and Sergio Gezzi, and co-presented by CLATA and the National Museum of Mexican Art, September 14-17. Opens Wednesday, September 14 at 7:30 p.m.

The Midwest premiere of Pequeños Territorios en Reconstrucción, a documentary fable about a group of Colombian women who created the “League of Displaced Women” and built 98 houses with their own hands, from Mexico City’s Teatro Línea de Sombra, co-presented by CLATA and Goodman Theatre in the heart of Chicago’s Loop, September 21-25. Opens Wednesday, September 21 at 7:30 p.m.

The U.S. premiere of Blanco Temblor by Puerto Rico’s Teatro Público. This is a dramedy about mental health as told via the story of Marina del Mar, a doctor in quantum astrophysics, a Puerto Rican, bipolar, suicide survivor, with a disease from birth: she could not tremble. Performances are September 29-October 2 at The Den Theatre in Wicker Park. Opens Thursday, September 29 at 8 p.m.

You want new plays by Latino writers? Destinos will see diverse new works by Chicago’s top Latino companies and artists, including:

Las Migas by Colectivo El Pozo, a world premiere drama set on the roof of a Chicago skyscraper as an eerie red moon disrupts city life below, presented at Chess Live Theater in Bridgeport, September 15-October 2. Opens Thursday, September 15 at 8 p.m.

The U.S. premiere of Bruna la Bruja Bruta by Mexican playwright Tomás Urtusástegui, starring Teatro Tariakuri Artistic Director Karla Galván as a modern-day Latina bruja who flies into her theater’s Marquette Park storefront space to get a few things off her chest before Halloween. Performances are Saturdays and Sundays, September 17-October 16. Opens Saturday, September 17 at 8 p.m.

The U.S. debut of Tebas Land by Uruguayan playwright Sergio Blanco, inspired by the Oedipus myth, about a series of meetings in a prison basketball court between a playwright and a young parricide (a person who kills a parent or close relative), presented by CLATA with the National Museum of Mexican Art, at Chicago Dramatists, September 22-October 9. Opens Thursday, September 22 at 7:30 p.m.

The world premiere of Enough to Let the Light In, produced by Teatro Vista and co-presented with Steppenwolf Theatre Company. The playwright is Paloma Nozicka, a Mexican-American actor, writer, director and filmmaker, bred in Chicago, based in L.A. Her newest work introduces us to girlfriends Marc and Cynthia, who spend a night celebrating a milestone, but it quickly devolves into chaos as buried secrets are revealed and lives are irrevocably changed. Performances are September 21-October 23 at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theater. Opens Friday, September 23 at 8 p.m.

Alma, an American Blues Theatre world premiere about a single mom who has single-handedly raised her daughter on tough love, home-cooked comida, and lots of prayers. But on the eve of her daughter’s SAT, she’s nowhere to be found. Alma, written by 2019 National Latinx Playwriting Award winner Benjamin Benne, runs September 22-October 22 at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. Opens Wednesday and Thursday, September 28 and 29 at 7:30 p.m.

Poet, actor, singer and Latino favorite Flaco Navaja stars in his first full-length solo show Evolution of a Sonero, a Midwest premiere from UrbanTheater Company. With unabashed love for the Bronx, a gift for crafting memorable characters, and genuine good humor, Navaja and five top-notch musicians bring on the charm, the rhythm, and the soul essential to a Bronx Sonero. Don’t miss this fresh salsa epic about growing up, getting inspired, and staying on track. Performances are September 29-October 23. Opens Thursday, September 29 at 8 p.m.

The world premiere of BULL: a love story by Chicago playwright Nancy García Loza, about a Mexican American ex-con who returns to his old Chicago neighborhood, Lakeview, only to discover how much has moved on without him. BULL: a love story is a Paramount Theater BOLD Series production, October 5-November 20 at the new Copley Theatre in downtown Aurora, Illinois’ second largest city with a 40 percent Latino population. BULL also marks the first-ever expansion of Destinos into a Chicago suburb. Opens Wednesday and Thursday, October 12 and 13 at 7 p.m.

The midwest premiere of Sancocho by Visión Latino Theater Company, written by Christin Eve Cato, directed by Xavier M. Custodio. The play tells the story of two sisters, 25 years apart, who come together to discuss their father’s will while making a traditional sancocho stew that suddenly becomes peppered with revelations about their family history. Performances are October 8-30 at Windy City Playhouse. Opens Monday, October 10 at 7:30 p.m.

The U.S. premiere of Cintas de seda from Aguijón Theater in Chicago’s Belmont-Cragin/Hermosa neighborhood. Set on the eve of the Day of the Dead, this play by Norge Espinosa imagines a painter and nun coming together for an impossible dialogue with ghosts, hallucinations, and images of the past, October 13-November 20. Opens Friday, October 14 at 8 p.m.

The world premiere of The Wizards by Ricardo Gamboa, a supernatural thriller about a Brown and Black genderqueer couple who find a Quija board in their new Pilsen apartment that connects them to a ‘70s Mexican-American Motown cover band. The Wizards, co-produced by the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance at Pilsen’s historic APO Cultural Center, runs October 14-November 26.

About Destinos, 5th Chicago International Latino Theater Festival

Now entering its fifth year, Destinos is the signature program of the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA), a transformative cultural engine helping drive the city’s local Latino theater community to a more prominent level. The organization’s goal is to create the country’s leading international Latino theater festival with an emphasis on showcasing Chicago Latino theater artists and companies. 

Visiting companies making their Destinos Festival debuts include Teatro Línea de Sombra (México), Teatro Público (Puerto Rico), and La Pájara de San Juan (Mexico/Washington D.C.). Participating Chicago Latino theaters are Aguijón Theater, Colectivo El Pozo, Concrete Content, Teatro Tariakuri, Teatro Vista, UrbanTheater Company and Visión Latino Theater Company. Presenting partners are Goodman Theatre, the National Museum of Mexican Art and Steppenwolf Theatre. Collaborating partners are American Blues Theater and Paramount Theater. Venue partners are APO Cultural Center, Chess Live Theater, Chicago Dramatists, The Den Theatre, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble and Windy City Playhouse. 

CLATA, which produces Destinos, was founded in 2016 as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization by Myrna Salazar and Chicago’s three most prominent Latino arts organizations: the National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA), the International Latino Cultural Center (ILCC), and the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance (PRAA). 

“In Spanish, the word ‘destinos’ has multiple meanings: destinies, destinations or fate,” explained CLATA’s late Executive Director Myrna Salazar, who passed away suddenly this past August, and to whom the 2022 festival is dedicated. “Destinos showcases Latino theater artists from Chicago, across the U.S. and Latin America to present engaging and thought-provoking stories that transcend boundaries, amplify Latino voices, and diversify Chicago stages to encourage cross-cultural conversation.” 

Additionally, CLATA continues to provide local groups ongoing organizational, marketing and financial support, and works diligently to create a permanent home for Chicago’s Latino theater artists. Ultimately, CLATA strives to underscore Chicago’s reputation as one of the most exciting and culturally diverse theater cities in the world.

CLATA gratefully acknowledges foundation support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Ford Foundation, Walder Foundation, Driehaus Foundation, Bezos Family Foundation, Creative Reaction Lab, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, Shubert Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, a CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Illinois Arts Council Agency and National Endowment for the Arts. Supporting partners are Allstate, Choose Chicago, Xfinity, 3Arts, ComEd and Wintrust.

For more, visit destinosfest.org or call (312) 631-3112.

Pay What You Can: Rhinoceros Theater Festival April 1 – May 7, 2022 at Jimmy Beans Coffee & Pride Arts Center

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar:

Fest Alert 

The Curious Theatre Branch, in association with Pride Arts Center and Jimmy Beans Cabaret, Prop Thtr and Labyrinth Arts, is pleased to present A Hint of Rhino: Rhinoceros Theater Festival 2022, playing April 1 – May 7, 2022. Shows will run Thursdays – Sundays at Jimmy Beans Coffee (2553 W. Fullerton Ave, second floor) in Logan Square and the Broadway Theater at Pride Arts Center (4139 N Broadway Ave) in Uptown.

Curious and friends present a pared-down, curated series of events including music, spoken word, new plays, drag and variety events. Programming on Sunday, May 1 at Pride Arts Center will include a special celebration of Matt Rieger, longtime Managing Director for Curious, who died suddenly in October 2021, and whose final play, Jimmy and the Nickels, will run Sunday afternoons and Thursday evenings at Pride Arts. Rhino Fest returns this year following a hiatus in 2021, in which festival producers awaited the return of safer gatherings in public spaces rather than shifting to a virtual format. This Rhino Fest represents the result of invitation and collaboration among small groups of Chicago artists, making inquisitive and expansive events for the current moment.

Tickets to all events are $20 or pay-what-you-can. 

Proof of vaccination will be required at the door, and audience members and crew will remain masked inside venues. Cash and credit cards accepted at the door. Tickets are currently available through Eventbrite. Further additional information and updates, visit rhinofest.com.

 

The full Rhino Fest 2022 line-up includes:

 A Hint of a Rhino Party

Saturday March 26 at 7 pm, Broadway Theater at Pride Arts

An opening night party to mosey back to Rhino. An evening of food and drinks, presentations, some previews of shows to come, a film or two, some jokes and lots and lots of mingling.  

 

John & Paul: Strictly Platonic

Fridays at 8 pm, April 1 – 29, Broadway Theater at Pride Arts Center

Chicago sketch comedy veterans John Klingle and Paul Brennan bring their anarchic humor back to the stage in a raucous celebration of dysfunctional friendship. Watch John and Paul juggle the roles of emasculated fathers, naive prison guards and problematic method actors, all while struggling to keep their corporate sponsorships. Special guests include drag artist Tara Bitchup, songstress Zoë Pike\ and stand-up comic Katie Zane.

 

New Speculative Fiction

Friday, April 1 at 7 pm, Jimmy Beans Coffee

Sharon Houk, Andy Sullivan, and Tanner Vaughan Halversen read new work.

 

Labyrinth Hour Cabaret

Saturdays at 8 pm, April 2 – 30, Broadway Theater at Pride Arts Center

A musical and variety adventure featuring bands, musical guests and variety acts.

April 2 & 23: The Improper Behavior Jump Blues Band featuring Miss Sharon and Keith Fort.

April 9 & 16: Drag Show with Narcisca and Slussy Vanity. Further guest artists to be announced. Produced and directed by Diane Hamm with Labyrinth Arts and Performance Collective.

 

The Chicago Beast Women

Saturdays at 10 pm, April 2 – 30, Broadway Theater at Pride Arts Center

Chicago’s longest-running showcase for veteran and premiering female artists comes to Pride!  An inspiring line-up of solo and collaborative artists showcasing new and urgent work. Jillian Erickson, Michelle Power, Cristina McCrystal, Alley Cat and many, many more beloved Chicago performers.

 

Vernon Tonges

Saturday, April 2 at 7 pm, Jimmy Beans Coffee

Known to many as Spoo Willoughby, Vernon Tonges is a low-profile performing songwriter and singer known for his crippling introversion and disastrous inability to adequately self-promote. Many of his shows occur unannounced in random parking lots where his audience mainly consists of drivers idling in the drive-through line awaiting takeout chicken. Surplus thigh meat comprises his chief compensation. The world remains a tough nut to crack.

 

The Crooked Mouth and Special Guests

Saturday, April 2 at 9 pm and Saturday, May 7 at 9 pm, Jimmy Beans Coffee

A Chicago-based music group including Jenny Magnus, Beau O'Reilly, T-Roy Martin, Vicki Walden and Heather Riordan with ample harmonies and lyrics to sink one's teeth into. Rock/pop/alt-country/vaudeville, if you must have a genre.

April 2: Special guest Izzy Yellen. "Izzy yellin'? No, he's making ambient folk."

May 7: Special guests Michael Amandes and Mac Modean

 

Writers Aloud

Sunday, April 3 at 3 pm, Broadway Theater at Pride Arts Center

For over three years, from in-person to online and now both live and streaming – this unassuming monthly forum organized by Donna Dunlap, Karen Fort and Cordis Heard for those who write and have seldom if ever spoken their own written words – a core Prop Thtr tradition. Two hours with three to five readers.

 

Jimmy and the Nickels

Sundays: April 3 at 5 pm, April 24 & May 1 at 3 pm. Note: the May 1 show will be followed by a celebration of Matt Rieger, Broadway Theater at Pride Arts Center

Thursdays: April 7, 14, 21, 28 at 8 pm, Broadway Theater at Pride Arts Center

A follow up to 2020’s lauded My Dinner with Joe, this chamber comedy, the last work of the beloved and abruptly departed Curious playwright and Managing Director Matt Rieger, features Mike McKune, Don Schroeder, Nick Leininger and Paul Brennan, and is directed by Stefan Brün with Charlotte Lastra.

 

Hypnosis

Friday, April 8 & 22, Saturday April 9 & 23 at 7pm, Jimmy Beans Coffee

A new monologue from Chicago poet and fringe theater mainstay Barrie Cole.

 

Cafe Neckbeard To Go

Fridays: April 8, 15, 22, 29 and May 6 at 9 pm, Jimmy Beans Coffee

Saturdays: April 9, 16, 23, 30 at 9 pm, Jimmy Beans Coffee

PR Representative and Procurement Specialist Chris Bower will theatrically update the world on the ongoing saga of the most experimental and explosive and explosively experimental cash-only fine dining celiac-intolerant temporarily to-go cafe in The Historic Logan Square Neighborhood (THLSN): Chef Anton "*" Anis's Cafe Neckbeard! Featuring Chris Bower and Steak Richardson.

 

The Problem With Flowers

Sundays: April 10, 17, 24 at 5 pm, Broadway Theater at Pride Arts Center

Thursdays: April 14, 21, 28 at 7 pm, Broadway Theater at Pride Arts Center

Roberto Del Rio’s solo work playfully examines the loves and miseries, the delights and betrayals in an emotional day off. From dawn until dusk we’ll hear those struggles, triumphs, fears and desires that only manifest when we’re by ourselves.

 

Deconstructing Desolation Row

Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16 at 7 pm, Jimmy Beans Coffee

Four writers respond to Bob Dylan's 1965 ballad from Highway 61 Revisited in song and lecture. Performances by Jayita Bhattacharya, Frank Bonacci, Michaela Chan and Bill Ferguson.

 

Time in a Teacup

Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30 at 7 pm, Jimmy Beans Coffee

New work by Jay Sebastian. Musings on time, memory, and baloney sandwiches through stories, original songs and 8mm movies.

 

The Anchovy's Song, The Pelican's Apocalypse

Friday, May 6 at 7 pm, Jimmy Beans Coffee

Jeff "Hollywood" Dorchen weaves together songs, obvious lies (elaborate and simple) and poems.

 

Sheila Donohue and Friends

Saturday, May 7 at 7 pm, Jimmy Beans Coffee

Performance poet and four-time National Poetry Slam Champion Sheila Donohue returns to Rhino Fest for an evening of new and archival work, with special guests.

Venue Note: Broadway Theater at Pride Arts Center is a first-floor space and is wheelchair accessible, with two accessible bathrooms. Jimmy Beans Cabaret is up one flight of stairs and is not easily accessible for wheelchair users.

 

About Rhino Fest

The event that became the Rhinoceros Theater Festival began in 1988 as an offshoot of the Bucktown Arts Fest, and in its first year featured just two days of performances, including work by Jenny Magnus and Beau O'Reilly. When the event's founder moved away from Chicago in 1990, he asked a ragtag group of local artists (including Beau O'Reilly and Theatre of the Reconstruction’s Scott Turner) to keep the festival going, and the Rhino Fest was born. The Curious Theatre Branch went on to produce the Rhino across many neighborhoods and venues over the years, with events variously taking place in Wicker Park/Bucktown, Rogers Park, Andersonville and Avondale; at spaces including the Lunar Cabaret and Full Moon Café, the Neo-Futurarium, the Society for New Things, The Garage, The Firehouse, Remains Theatre and Prop Thtr. In the mid-2000s, Rhino Fest settled at Prop Thtr in Avondale as its long-term base, and Prop and Curious co-produced the festival among a shifting group of curators for many years. Following the closure of Prop's Elston Ave. space in 2020, and a year off during the height of the pandemic, Rhino Fest is once more becoming itinerant, this year producing shows at The Broadway at Pride Arts Center in Uptown and Jimmy Beans Coffee in Logan Square.

FEST ALERT: LIFELINE THEATRE PRESENTS THE 23RD ANNUAL FILLET OF SOLO FESTIVAL, JANUARY 10– 26, 2020

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

Lifeline Partners with 15 Chicago Storytelling Collectives

Former Lifeline Theatre Artistic Director Dorothy Milne and former Live Bait Theater Artistic Director Sharon Evans are pleased to announce the 23rd Annual Fillet of Solo Festival, running January 10–26, 2020. Celebrating the breadth of Chicago’s enduring storytelling and live lit scene, Lifeline brings 15 storytelling collectives and nine solo performers together for a three-week, multi-venue selection of powerful personal stories.

The 2020 Fillet of Solo festival will perform January 10-26, 2020, in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood at Lifeline Theatre (6912 N. Glenwood Ave.) and The Teal Room (6956 N. Glenwood Ave. – new location this year). Free parking and shuttle available. Performance times are Fridays at 7 and 8:30 p.m. at both venues; Saturdays at 4, 5:30, 7, and 8:30 p.m. at both venues; and Sundays at 4 and 5:30 p.m. at both venues. Ticket prices are $10 for regular single tickets, and $60 for a Festival Pass (allows admission to any performance). Tickets may be purchased at the Lifeline Box Office, 773.761.4477, or by visiting www.lifelinetheatre.com.

FREE KICK-OFF NIGHT

The 23rd Annual Fillet of Solo Festival offers easy access to 15 Live Lit groups and numerous solo performers that perform regularly throughout Chicago. On Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020 at 7 p.m., at The Teal Room, 6956 N. Glenwood Ave. Dorothy Milne of Lifeline Theatre will lead a conversation with numerous local storytellers and share a taste of things to come in the festival.

Discounted Passes: Fillet of Solo Festival Passes will be offered at a special discounted rate of $30 at the free kick-off event (regularly $60).

The Kick-Off Night is free, no reservations required. Contact the Lifeline Theatre Box Office, 773.761.4477, for more information.
FEATURED PERFORMERS

The 23rd Annual Fillet of Solo Festival will feature solo performances by:

·         Jamie Black: “It’s My Penis and I’ll Cry If I Want To”
·         Shelby Marie Edwards: “Lost Home, Win Home”
·         Kristina Lebedeva: “It’s Easy to be a Hero: Disability in Exile”
·         Arlene Malinowski: “A Little Bit not Normal”
·         Janki Mody: “Hear Me, See Me”
·         Anne Purky: “The Fixer (Notes from a Helicopter Mom on Steroids)”

·         Victoria Reeves: “Brassy + Intrepid”
·         R.C. Riley: “Take It Easy on the Left Hand, Please”
·         Shannon Wright: “LOVE, SHANNON XO”

Plus the work of the following storytelling collectives:
·         80 Minutes Around the World: Immigration Stories (http://www.nestorgomezstoryteller.com/immigration-stories.html) – Curated and produced by Nestor Gomez. Celebrated storyteller and 20-time Moth Slam winner Nestor Gomez has assembled a group of local performers to help illuminate the voices of immigrants in our city.
·         Back Room Stories (https://www.facebook.com/Backroomstories/) The Back Room is a curated show that features voices from across the spectrum of storytelling.  Margaret Burk co-produces and co-hosts three monthly storytelling events in Oak Park/River Forest: Back Room Stories at Hamburger Mary’s, Illinois Storytelling’s series at Dominican University, and Do Not Submit Oak Park at the Eastgate Cafe.
·         GeNarrations (www.goodmantheatre.org/Engage-Learn/For-Community/GeNarrations/): A personal narrative performance workshop hosted at the Goodman Theatre and in senior centers around Chicago.
·         Is This a Thing? (https://www.facebook.com/isthisathing/) Produced by Jake Cowan, Damian Raszewski, and Suzy Kahn Weinberg. Is this a thing? is a storytelling show that features new and experienced writers and tellers of true personal tales in a welcoming and nurturing space and place. Since 2014, our theme-inspired monthly show happens in the warm embrace of a Northside neighborhood pub, O’Shaughnessy’s at Ravenswood and Wilson on the second Monday of the month, February-July and September-December.  The stories all benefit from a super helpful and supportive workshop for the performers and producers to listen to each other and share ideas. Is this a thing? Yes. Yes it is.
·         the kates (www.thekates.org): An all-female comedy showcase that provides an intimate night of comedy dedicated to showcasing talented and hilarious female-identified performers by creating inclusive and positive environments. Artists are encouraged to express their comic point of view in unique and non-apologetic ways - proving that women are equal in the eyes of comedy.
·         The Lifeline Storytelling Project (www.lifelinestorytellingproject.com): The Lifeline Storytelling Project produces live music & storytelling events designed to develop and showcase artists affiliated with Lifeline Theatre.
·         Loose Chicks (loosechicks.robertamiles.com): Before #MeToo began empowering women, there was Loose Chicks. Loose Chicks is a collection of courageous women who share experiences that most women keep to themselves. Each show features six exceptional writers and performers who allow themselves to be vulnerable as they share with uncommon honesty.
·         Serving the Sentence (www.facebook.com/servingthesentencechicago): Serving the Sentence is a live lit show in which different storytellers take the same first sentence -- each in their own direction. At the end of the show, a new sentence is drawn that the next show's storytellers will embark from!
·         Stir-Friday Night! (www.stirfridaynight.org): A 23-year-old Asian-American comedy group, based in Chicago and performing at Second City, iO, Annoyance, Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre, and at festivals all over the country. Stir-Friday Night! alumni include Danny Pudi from Community, and Steven Yeun from The Walking Dead. Stir-Friday Night! is a nonprofit theater company, specializing in sketch comedy and improvisation, and offers touring shows and workshops for schools, companies, and organizations        .  
·         The Stoop (www.facebook.com/StoopStyleStories): The Stoop is hosted by Moth GrandSLAM champion Lily Be. Featured storytellers are given a theme and each share a short story related to that theme. The Stoop is a platform to bring Chicagoans to a better understanding of each other and to inspire change. Performing regularly at Rosa's Lounge in Humboldt Park, it is as much about community and survival as it is about entertainment.
·         Story Sessions (http://storysessionschicago.com/) Produced and hosted by Jill Howe. Story Sessions is a monthly show in Edgewater featuring a collection of curated performers and open mics sharing true personal stories that will tug at your heart strings, tickle your funny bone and take your mind on a wild adventure. First Fridays at Sauce and Bread Kitchen also feature delicious fresh pizza and BYO. The show is an hour long without intermission, so there is plenty of time to hang out with fellow story lovers. The show is free and always will be.
·         Sweat Girls (www.sweatgirls.org): With 26 years of shared history, the Sweat Girls represent the greying edge of Chicago's Live Lit community.  Known for their "contagious gusto" the Sweat Girls have been called "the undisputed tribal elders" of the solo performance scene (Chicago Reader, 2014).
·         Tellin’ Tales Theatre, featuring Tekki Lomnicki (tellintales.org): Tellin' Tales Theatre shatters the barriers between the disabled and non-disabled worlds through personal story — adult solo performances as well as "Six Stories Up,” a mentoring program and show featuring kids and adults, with and without disabilities. Tekki Lomnicki is a solo performer, playwright, director and educator. 
·         Universal Sound (https://www.facebook.com/Universal-Sound-a-storytelling-event-226119884926759/) Hosted by Vincent Greco. Universal Sound is a storytelling event that is part curated and part open mic, designed for people to tell their stories their way.  It is sponsored by Voice Power Chicago on the ·         We Met at Nine (https://www.facebook.com/wemetatnine/?modal=admin_todo_tour) Hosted and Produced by Lindsay Eanet and Lindsey Schroeder. We Met at Nine is a quarterly storytelling show at Chicago’s Laugh Out Loud Theater involving true stories told by pairs. Each show features five pairs (partners, parent and child, coworkers, siblings, best friends, exes).  Stories might be about a first date, an ill-fated road trip, a science fair experiment gone awry—whatever memory speaks to both parties. The name of the show comes from the Lerner & Loewe song “I Remember It Well,” where an old married couple go back and forth, each recalling their first date very differently.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

WEEK ONE (January 10-12):

Friday, January 10
Lifeline Theatre                                                     The Teal Room
7:00 p.m.    Lifeline Storytelling Project                     7:00 p.m.    Universal Sound
8:30 p.m.    80 Minutes Around The World                8:30 p.m.    Is This A Thing?


Saturday, January 11
Lifeline Theatre                                                     The Teal Room
4:00 p.m.    GeNarrations                                        4:00 p.m.    Janki Mody
5:30 p.m.    Tellin’ Tales Theatre/Tekki Lomnicki       5:30 p.m.    Serving the Sentence
7:00 p.m.    Story Sessions                                      7:00 p.m.    the kates
8:30 p.m.    Sweat Girls                                           8:30 p.m.    Stir-Friday Night!

Sunday, January 12
Lifeline Theatre                                                     The Teal Room
4:00 p.m.    Arlene Malinowski                                 4:00 p.m.    Back Room Stories
5:30 p.m.    Anne Purky                                           5:30 p.m.    Loose Chicks
WEEK TWO (January 17-19):

Friday, January 17
Lifeline Theatre                                                     The Teal Room
7:00 p.m.    Lifeline Storytelling Project                     7:00 p.m.    the kates
8:30 p.m.    80 Minutes Around The World                8:30 p.m.    Victoria Reeves

Saturday, January 18
Lifeline Theatre                                                     The Teal Room
4:00 p.m.    GeNarrations                                        4:00 p.m.    Kristina Lebedeva
5:30 p.m.    Tellin’ Tales Theatre/Tekki Lomnicki       5:30 p.m.    Serving the Sentence
7:00 p.m.    Sweat Girls                                           7:00 p.m.    Loose Chicks
8:30 p.m.    Shannon Wright                                    8:30 p.m.    Universal Sound

Sunday, January 19
Lifeline Theatre                                                     The Teal Room
4:00 p.m.    Shelby Marie Edwards                           4:00 p.m.    The Stoop
5:30 p.m.    R.C. Riley                                             5:30 p.m.    We Met at Nine 
WEEK THREE (January 24-26):

Friday, January 24
Lifeline Theatre                                                     The Teal Room
7:00 p.m.    Shelby Marie Edwards                           7:00 p.m.    Is This a Thing?
8:30 p.m.    80 Minutes Around the World                 8:30 p.m.    Lifeline Storytelling Project                    
Saturday, January 25
Lifeline Theatre                                                     The Teal Room
4:00 p.m.    Jamie Black                                          4:00 p.m.    Janki Mody
5:30 p.m.    Tellin’ Tales Theatre/Tekki Lomnicki       5:30 p.m.    The Stoop
7:00 p.m.    Sweat Girls                                           7:00 p.m.    Back Room Stories
8:30 p.m.    R.C. Riley                                             8:30 p.m.    Stir-Friday Night!


Sunday, January 26
Lifeline Theatre                                                     The Teal Room
4:00 p.m.    GeNarrations                                        4:00 p.m.    Victoria Reeves
5:30 p.m.    Shannon Wright                                    5:30 p.m.    Kristina Lebedeva


Lifeline Theatre presents the 2020 Fillet of Solo festival will perform January 10-26, 2020, in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood at Lifeline Theatre (6912 N. Glenwood Ave.) and The Teal Room (6956 N. Glenwood Ave. – new location this year). Free parking and shuttle available. Performance times are Fridays at 7 and 8:30 p.m. at both venues; Saturdays at 4, 5:30, 7, and 8:30 p.m. at both venues; and Sundays at 4 and 5:30 p.m. at both venues. Ticket prices are $10 for regular single tickets, and $60 for a Festival Pass (allows admission to any performance). Tickets may be purchased at the Lifeline Box Office, 773.761.4477, or by visiting www.lifelinetheatre.com.

Now in its 37th season, Lifeline Theatre is driven by a passion for story. Our ensemble process supports writers in the development of literary adaptations and new work, and our theatrical and educational programs foster a lifelong engagement with literature and the arts. A cultural anchor of Rogers Park, we are committed to deepening our connection to an ever-growing family of artists and audiences, both near and far. Lifeline Theatre – Big Stories, Up Close.

Lifeline Theatre’s programs are partially supported by Alphawood Foundation; A.R.T League Inc.; Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation; Chicago CityArts, a grant from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events; The Common Cup; Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; FGMK LLC; Flex Print, Inc.; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; Illinois Arts Council Agency;  MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince; The Polk Bros. Foundation; Rogers Park Social; S&C Electric Company Fund; The Shubert Foundation; and the annual support of businesses and individuals.