Shadow and light. Wood and paper. Dust and clay. Alchemy. These are the tools of Chicago’s master puppeteers. Within the implacable constraints of quarantine, they remain—as ever—monarchs of infinite space, conjuring sentience where none exists and creating vast worlds even as a pandemic walls us away in spaces that often feel small enough to be bound by a nutshell. Of all the live art forms, puppetry is arguably the one most readily adapted to the privations of lockdown.
Thomas—whose three-decade, literally storied career in Chicago includes cofounding Chicago’s late, great Redmoon Theater—teaches the August 8-15 course, “A Miniature Universe: Intro to the Toy Theater.” The final course is Myra Su’s “Playing with Crankies: Explorations in Shadows and Scrolling Panoramas,” slated for August 15-22. Each course will culminate with a student performance. The fee is $185, though some scholarships are available.
Su began in theater as well, but a junior year college course with Chicago’s Manual Cinema changed her trajectory. “I loved animation growing up, and I was always a very crafty person. That class connected the two.”
