Mark Blashford

Tickets are now on sale for the 5th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, the largest of its kind in North America, returning January 18-29, 2023, at venues large and small throughout the city.

The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival announces its Summer 2021 Living Room Tour, Thursday, July 15-Saturday, July 17, 2021.

Pop-Up Puppet Grams, the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival’s answer to sending flowers or singing telegrams, are back for spring gift giving. Chicago’s own traveling Pop-Up Puppet Gram puppeteer Mark Blashford has begun booking appointments again, starting Thursday, May 6, just in time for Mother’s Day weekend.

Ma-Yi Theater Company, in association with The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, will present the online premiere of Vancouver, a puppet play centered on a mixed-race family who relocate from Japan to the Pacific Northwest.

Send your Valentine some love…with strings attached…with a Valentine Pop-Up Puppet-Gram from the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival. Traveling puppeteer Mark Blashford, accompanied by Chicago’s favorite doorstep marionette, has created an original Valentine themed Pop-Up Puppet-Gram, and is now booking appointments every weekend in Feb.

This winter is the perfect time to stay inside, dive into live, hands-on puppetry workshops and make something extraordinary. That’s why, due to popular demand, the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival is expanding its teaching artist roster and tripling its winter line-up of live, online puppetry workshops.

This fall Chicago residents have a cool new way to send friends and loved ones the unforgettable gift of a live, in-person, fall harvest themed puppet show.

Rough House Theater Co. is proud to announce its return this Halloween season with an updated production of the sold out 2018 horror phenomena. This year, Rough House Theatre presents The Silence in Harrow House , conceived and directed by Mike Oleon, written by Mark Maxwell and Claire Saxe, September 26 a?" November 10 at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W Division St. Audiences once again descend into Rough House's gorgeous, dark and surreal world for a new story of silence, sacrifice and transformation. Previews are Thursday, Sept. 26 and Friday, Sept. 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 28 at 7 and 8:45 p.m. Opening night is Thursday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. Performance times are Thursdays and Fridays at 7 and 8:45 p.m., Saturdays at 6, 7:45 and 9:30 p.m., and Sundays at 6 and 7:45 p.m. Recommended for audiences aged 14 and over. Tickets are $15 - $32 and may be purchased at RoughHouseTheater.com.

Rough House Theater Co. is proud to announce its return this Halloween season with an updated production of the sold out 2018 horror phenomena.

BWW REVIEW: Unrestrained Laughter in THE ARTIFICIAL JUNGLE

This fall, Hell in a Handbag Productions is thrilled to explore THE ARTIFICIAL JUNGLE, the final play by the legendary master of camp, Charles Ludlam. Who better to direct this criminal tale of lust and murder than Hell in a Handbag's longtime partner in crime, Shade Murray of A Red Orchid Theatre. The Handbag production marks the first time in over 25 years this campy classic has been performed in Chicago.

This fall, Hell in a Handbag Productions is thrilled to explore THE ARTIFICIAL JUNGLE, the final play by the legendary master of camp, Charles Ludlam. Who better to direct this criminal tale of lust and murder than Hell in a Handbag's longtime partner in crime, Shade Murray of A Red Orchid Theatre. 

This fall, Hell in a Handbag Productions is thrilled to explore THE ARTIFICIAL JUNGLE, the final play by the legendary master of camp, Charles Ludlam. Who better to direct this criminal tale of lust and murder than Hell in a Handbag's longtime partner in crime, Shade Murray of A Red Orchid Theatre. The Handbag production marks the first time in over 25 years this campy classic has been performed in Chicago.

This fall, Hell in a Handbag Productions is thrilled to explore THE ARTIFICIAL JUNGLE, the final play by the legendary master of camp, Charles Ludlam. Who better to direct this criminal tale of lust and murder than Hell in a Handbag's longtime partner in crime, Shade Murray of A Red Orchid Theatre. 

As part of its popular Summertime Today Puppet Show Series of new works by UConn Puppet Arts students and alumni for family audiences, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will present Canteen Tales: The Curse of Bread Beard by UConn Puppet Arts MFA student and Connecticut native Shane McNeal today, July 1 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater located at 1 Royce Circle, Storrs Center.

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will once more present its popular Summertime Today Puppet Shows Series of new works by UConn Puppet Arts students and alumni for family audiences on seven consecutive Todays, July 1 through August 12, 2017. Each show will be performed twice, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. All performances will take place at the Ballard Institute Theater located at 1 Royce Circle, Storrs Center. 'We are very excited to present these new shows by UConn students,' Ballard Institute Director John Bell said; 'they all represent the ingenuity, inspiration, and high standards of UConn's Puppet Arts Program, and will be extraordinarily entertaining.'

As part of its popular Summertime Saturday Puppet Show Series of new works by UConn Puppet Arts students and alumni for family audiences, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will present Punch & Jilly by Puppet Arts MFA student Mark Blashford on Saturday, July 8 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater located at 1 Royce Circle, Storrs Center.

As part of its popular Summertime Saturday Puppet Show Series of new works by UConn Puppet Arts students and alumni for family audiences, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will present Canteen Tales: The Curse of Bread Beard by UConn Puppet Arts MFA student and Connecticut native Shane McNeal on Saturday, July 1 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater located at 1 Royce Circle, Storrs Center.

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will once more present its popular Summertime Saturday Puppet Shows Series of new works by UConn Puppet Arts students and alumni for family audiences on seven consecutive Saturdays, July 1 through August 12, 2017. Each show will be performed twice, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. All performances will take place at the Ballard Institute Theater located at 1 Royce Circle, Storrs Center. 'We are very excited to present these new shows by UConn students,' Ballard Institute Director John Bell said; 'they all represent the ingenuity, inspiration, and high standards of UConn's Puppet Arts Program, and will be extraordinarily entertaining.'

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is pleased to host the premiere of Jack & Jill by UConn Puppet Arts Program MFA candidate Mark Blashford with indoor performances at the Ballard Institute Theater and outdoor shows in the Betsy Paterson Square in downtown Storrs on April 29 and 30 and May 6 and 7.