Rough House

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"It is most of all dirt that gives the roughness its edge; filth and vulgarity are natural, obscenity is joyous: with these the spectacle takes on its socially liberating role, for by nature the popular theatre is anti-authoritarian, anti-traditional, anti-pomp, anti-pretense. This is the theatre of noise, and the theatre of noise is the theatre of applause."

-Peter Brook, "The Rough Theatre" fro

m The Empty Space

"The poet who has collected this puppet farce from the very lips of the people has reason to believe that this evening’s cultured audience will embrace, with pure heart and intelligence, the deliciously rough language of puppets. The rhythm, the imagination, and the charming liberty of expression that the poet has preserved here is the property of true puppet theater, which expresses the folk imagination and communicates its charm and innocence."
-La Tarumba de Don Cristobal

05/28/2026

It’s time to throwback to last week (May 23rd, 2026) when we celebrated 15 years of being nasty, brutish and short with an aptly named puppet cabaret hosted as always by the stalwart with some extra musical 🎤guest hosts . Curated by the dynamic duo of .y.su and (who made a performer appearance debuting her tiny cat act).

📣Sound up for this one to catch some of the impromptu lyrics and enjoy the high speed unraveling of time with an “anything can be a puppet” freeze dance party. Feels right, right? Pop by bio to submit your act to perform in the next show this August!

05/14/2026

Happy birthday to Steven Widerman, puppeteer extraordinaire!🤩🎊🎂

04/27/2026

Meet Expansion residency artist Sion, a non-binary Chicago based visual artist, puppet maker and performer whose personal work specializes in the philosophy of myth and the macabre. As a freelance art and puppetry fabricator, they often work alongside Chicago Puppet Studio, Rabbitfoot Puppetry, and Rough House.

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 as a series of short stories set on a primordial and brutally animalistic earth that aims to challenge moral philosophies of what it means to be human in a world where none yet exist.

SAVE THE DATES—The Expansion Residency Showcase is scheduled for June 18-21—more details to come soon!

04/24/2026

Meet Expansion residency artist T. Jordan!

She is a storyteller puppeteer, puppet maker, and fiber artist. After decades of storytelling, she entered the puppet community in 2019, creating 2-D puppets performed primarily for people in neighboring windows. Since that time, she has expanded her fabrication skills to include mask and performance objects crafting. T. Jordan has also participated in community in three large-scale lantern puppet builds and the subsequent activations. Currently, she is exploring crankies, videography, and teaching workshops. She says puppet theater has become a central creative outlet, allowing her to merge art and advocacy in an impactful, energizing manner.

Her piece BOXING centers three women stranded at the intersection of trauma, displacement, and rage. The play explores the daily horrors experienced by individuals trapped in an untenable existence.

Mark your calendars for June 18-21 to see her piece in Rough House Puppet Arts Expansion residency showcase.

Address

Chicago, IL

Website

https://www.roughhousepuppets.org/

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