Gabriela reflects on how theatre is getting Chicago through polar apocalypse.
There—focus on what’s in front of you. Yes, it’s been quite a week, quite a month, quite a way to start the year. A number of events have interrupted daily life, and new news adds layer upon layer to the icy air. Chicago streets have emptied. The overwhelm overwhelms. Focusing on just one thing might seem impossible, but that’s exactly how many audiences and artists are aiming to push through.
I recovered from Covid this week and finally attended my first theatre of 2025, not expecting what a balm the trek outside would offer. Guarded by four to five fuzzy layers, I left my heart unshielded and absorbed experiences at the vast Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, as well as an intimate, independent production of Uncle Vanya with the New Theatre Project. They differed in producing models and seating arrangements, sure, but shared salient themes of resilience. And audiences sought their delicate solace for the same reasons.
Sitting next to me at the grandiose Studebaker Theater for the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival’s presentation of J.M. Coetzee’s Life and Times of Michael K. was a couple unaffiliated with the theatre or puppetry worlds, who were simply grateful to immerse themselves in a story for a few hours. They discussed their openness to whatever would unfold before them, saying they’d done no prior research and were eager to take it in, in the moment. That’s their preferred way of experiencing art, they said, ready to be surprised. “I wonder if we’ll see the puppeteers,” one said to me. “Or how big the puppets will be—I’m trying to gauge by the size of the door.” I too observed, element by element, and as the sweeping story unfolded, my breath slowed. Time suspended.
This collaboration between South African companies Baxter Theatre and Handspring Puppet Co., the latter of which built the likes of War Horse and Little Amal, borrows inspiration from the traditional Japanese puppet theatre Ningyo Joruri, also known as Bunraku. Puppets interact with and move among actors, traversing great distances in the story’s mythical, war-torn landscape.
As is the case in Bunraku’s traditional three-person direct hand manipulation, each puppet in Michael K. does not move alone. At least three individuals control the gestures, voice, breath, and even handgrip of a single puppet, making each storytelling moment feel all the more pronounced, synchronous, hypnotizing.
Consequential. In boiling down the human body to puppet form, the show helped me absorb and appreciate characters’ smallest choices, for they were writ large. A step forward, in this unforgettable puppet theatre, takes three people. “The art form is so innately collaborative,” said festival founder and artistic director Blair Thomas. Maybe that’s a lesson, from puppets, to us all.
The next day I found myself in a working factory north of the Studebaker, in a neighborhood not known for its theatre, but saw audiences just as enthusiastic as those downtown. One attendee, theatremaker and educator Bec McNamara, told me her greatest survival tactic has been focusing on one thing at a time. Her cup of coffee. The view from a window. There were many triumphs to focus on within this Uncle Vanya, directed by Spencer Hoffman and produced by Chris Angus and L.C. Bernadine. But I took a page from Bec’s book.
Shadow seemed to become a character in itself within this site-specific marvel. Audiences had to be led to the playing space and were instructed to stay away from machinery, which hovered in near darkness (the workspace’s usual lights were off). Chekhov in a factory: I’d been surprised by the concept, but its optimal nature revealed itself in space. I believed, with intense feeling, the characters when they discussed a storm outside. And with the phantom of a day’s real labor occupying their surroundings, the characters’ lamentations pulsated in complicated new light.
In the absence of the factory’s work lights, Emily Blanquera’s design with candles, a suspended iron chandelier, and darkness took their place. As flame flickered upon her face, Sonya’s (Olivia Lindsay) insistence to keep going illuminated my icy trip home.
The delicacy of these characters, I realized, lies in their resilience. Resilience and delicacy are not antitheses, but partners in the quiet art of survival.
Chicago knows survival. The city has long been an epicenter of both frigid wind and sweltering sun, fear and refuge, silencing and ecstatic expression. Numerous stories are still unfolding. No one knows how the play will go.
We control for now what we can. Story by story. One thing, then another thing.
—Gabriela Furtado Coutinho
Now See This
This month, TimeLine Theatre Company, in partnership with the Theatre School at DePaul, will open a site-specific, immersive presentation of Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley (Jan. 29-March 2). The show, which brings to the stage the 1965 televised debate between Civil Rights icon James Baldwin and conservative pundit William F. Buckley, will take place at DePaul’s Cortelyou Commons, in an effort to recreate the environment of the Cambridge Union where the debate originally took place. Check out this video to hear more from director Christopher McElroen, who also adapted the piece, on the importance of staging this conversation about race and the “American Dream” 60 years later.
Around Town
Jerald catches us up on a few items you may have missed!
As you may have heard, a publication oft cited in this section of the newsletter is facing a struggle to survive. Kerry Reid, theatre and dance editor for the Reader, has shared a fundraising page with the community, stating that, after more than 50 years serving Chicago, “The Reader faces imminent closure.”
The letter on the donation pages cites a “perfect storm of sudden economic downturns” that have put the nonprofit outlet in what they’re calling “a precarious position,” though they do have a path forward if they’re able to raise the money. As of this writing, the fundraiser has raised nearly $2,300 of its $3,000 goal.
“Independent media outlets like the Reader matter more than ever now,” Reid writes. “If the Reader ever helped you find a job, an apartment, a date, or showed you something or someone in Chicago you would never have known about otherwise, please think about helping us if you can. We want to stick around for all the great shows and important stories still to come.”
On that note, here’s a look at theatre coverage around the city, from the Reader and beyond.
- For the Reader, Reid previewed the Uncle Vanya Gabriela writes about above, set in a working factory, a second foray for New Theatre Project founder and director Spencer Huffman, who also staged Caryl Churchill’s Far Away in the same factory. “I read Uncle Vanya again, and the setting of the fading Russian estate and the presence of the peasantry working around the estate—I thought that there was a way that we could make that work with a good design team,” Huffman told Reid.
- Also in the Reader, Irene Hsiao takes us behind the scenes of “Potential Energy: Chicago Puppets Up Close,” an exhibition of contemporary puppetry at the Chicago Cultural Center (through April 6). “In a show, often a puppet will pass in front of you for three seconds, it will be 80 feet away from you, and then go away,” co-curator Will Bishop told Hsiao. “But there are so many people in Chicago making such beautiful objects, so we wanted to weave a web of connection between visual and theatrical communities in a deliberate way.”
- Meanwhile, WBEZ’s Fran Spielman reports on growing scrutiny around a Chicago Cultural Center puppetry display titled “U.S.-Israel War Machine,” with a majority of the City Council’s 50 members demanding that Mayor Brandon Johnson condemn the artwork as antisemitic and order its removal. “The description said the U.S. was supporting Israel, sending arms to Israel and working together with Israel—and called them child killers,” said Ald. Debra Silverstein to Spielman. Ald. David Moore, who didn’t sign Silverstein’s letter, told Spielman, “If it was directed against any ethnic group, I would be the first to condemn it. But it’s pointing a finger at the government. That’s something we can’t censor.”
- Yasmin Zacaria Mikhaiel reports on the inspiration behind Iranian American writer and performer Michael Shayan’s solo show Avaaz, running at Chicago Shakes (through Feb. 9), for the Reader. “I’m playing my mother, which is every gay man’s dream or nightmare, depending on how you feel about your mother,” Shayan told Mikhaiel.
- In the Tribune, Chris Jones remembers Joyce Piven, co-founder of Piven Theatre, who died earlier this month at 94. “Piven was strong-willed and intimidating,” writes Jones, “but also a disarmingly charming figure, in the style of a classic throwback to New York’s Uta Hagen or Cheryl Crawford, and an old-school thespian who often felt that Evanston had not afforded her company the respect it deserved.”
- Also for the Tribune, Emily McClanathan previews Chicago’s International Puppet Fest. “Now in its seventh iteration, the 2025 festival presents puppet artists and companies from across the U.S. and 13 other countries—including, for the first time, China, India and Scotland,” McClanathan writes.
- Jones also announced in the Tribune that Chicago Shakes will host the pre-Broadway run of the musical 42 Balloons, the story of a real-life Vietnam veteran who made a 45-minute solo flight in a lawn chair lifted by helium-filled balloons.
- Over at WBEZ, Mike Davis shares a variety of reports. First, he discusses Blue Man Group saying goodbye to Chicago and moving to Florida. Davis also breaks down some of the best deals for February’s Chicago Theatre Week. Additionally, he previews Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, running at Chicago Shakes (through Feb. 2), and the new play Searching for Justice, a production from Mud Theatre Project, a group that formed behind the walls of Dixon Correctional Center.
- For the Sun-Times, Stefano Esposito reports on “Team Culture,” a group of local civic, business, and community leaders looking to reimagine major parts of downtown by filling them with art. “There have been two things in recent history that changed downtown,” said Lou Raizin, president and CEO of Broadway in Chicago, per Esposito’s report. “One was the Theatre District and the other was Millennium Park. It’s time for culture to do it all over again.”
- Over at Newcity Stage, the team has unveiled their “Players 2025: The 50 People Who Really Perform for Chicago.” This special package includes folks in comedy, opera, dance, and theatre. You can head here to read Brian Hieggelke’s introduction and here to see the list of theatremakers, which includes the likes of actor Charin Alvarez, director Mikael Burke, and so many more.
- Also at Newcity, Mary Wisniewski interviews Tyrone Phillips, director of the Definition and Goodman production of Fat Ham. “I feel like Shakespeare set us up for a fully rounded, beautiful experience of what theatre’s supposed to be, with music, dance, poetry, asking the big questions, and also showing examples of what happens when we get a little too confident and too cocky,” Phillips told Wisniewski.
—Jerald Raymond Pierce
Chicago Chisme
Every month, Jerald and Gabriela check in with Chicago/Midwest theatre artists about what’s getting them out of bed in the morning and keeping them up at night. This time around, we’re gathering strength and inspiration for 2025. More below from Jos N. Banks, performer and costume designer who just designed Fat Ham at Goodman Theatre, running through March 2, as well as Jacinda Ratcliffe, who performed in Cabinet of Curiosity’s The Cabinet with the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival and is currently understudying Lookingglass Theatre’s Circus Quixote.
What are your self-care practices right now?
Jos: To be completely honest, it’s been a very fruitful season so I haven’t had much time for my usual practices, but quality time with my loved ones always does my heart best. Most times what I really need is to slow down and allow myself to be loved on.
Jacinda: I’ve been obsessed with sensory deprivation float tanks. My friend took me to my first one about a month ago and I fell in love with it. Being able to completely relax my physical body in Epsom salt water in complete silence and complete darkness allows me to sink into deep meditation and connect with myself in a way that I find very difficult in my day to day life. I tend to be on the go and fairly non-stop throughout the week, so carving out time to do literally nothing with no external input to my system has been extremely restorative.
What has been inspiring you lately?
Jos: The resilience of Black women.
Jacinda: I’ve been very deep in my physical practices lately and exploring new capabilities within my body. I have a long background as a dancer, but I’ve been curious to see what else I can do. Working on Circus Quixote has been so expansive to my physical repertoire of skills; I’ve gotten to explore new aerial apparatuses as well as ground-based challenges like stilt walking and ball-walking. I often find myself having to push through fear to take the first steps in these new directions, but I find it endlessly thrilling to keep pushing myself to discover more possibilities.
What’s one thing you wish people knew about the art you make or the way you make it?
Jos: My greatest desire is simply to be seen, for all that I am. Not limited, labeled or placed in a societal box that so many love to throw us in. I am an artist. I can be brilliant at more than one thing. I’m not the first nor last, but make no mistake, there is only one me. My heart is in everything I do. Authenticity is at the center of my core, and I pride myself in standing firm in it.
Jacinda: The phrase that has been stuck in my head is “the relentless pursuit of failure until something succeeds.” I used to fear failing to a debilitating degree, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve found my greatest discoveries in my “failures.” Taking bold steps is the only way forward, and every step I take either leads me closer to where I want to be or teaches me the direction that does not serve my ultimate goal. To be honest, I don’t really know what that goal is—it constantly changes, and I’ve always kept myself open to the shifts. All I know for sure is that I still feel called to make art, and I hope to be able to until I feel called to something different.
What are your hopes or resolutions for American theatre in 2025?
Jos: That we are courageous enough as artists and institutions alike to do our due diligence and actually reflect the times we are living in. In my eyes that is quite literally our purpose as artists. Someone has to step up to the plate, and I just pray we aren’t alone in this venture.
Jacinda: I hope that American theatre remains an uncensored space for artists to create and share work about the world around them. It’s a scary time for a lot of us, and I hope artists can stay bold (and stay safe in their boldness) to express the reality of their experiences. Theatre is a way to create community and to reflect life back to the people who consume it; I hope American theatre in 2025 is able to stay honest and help people feel less alone as we go through this time.
