Chicago Puppet Festival Draws Crowds for 'A Doll's House' and More

Crowds flocked to the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival over the weekend, attending performances that included Plexus Polaire’s American premiere of “A Doll’s House” and Manual Cinema’s “The 4th Witch,” the New York Times critic reported on Jan. 29, 2026. The review describes a 600-strong crowd being waved inside an old Broadway-style theater near Grant Park on the honor system to avoid a line in subzero weather; at times outside temperatures were reported as low as zero degrees Fahrenheit and later 7 degrees after a show.

Manual Cinema’s “The 4th Witch,” conceived and directed by Drew Dir, was presented as a hometown premiere. The Times account said the Macbeth-inspired work uses intricate paper cutouts, onstage actors and overhead projectors, with live music, shadow puppets and human performers to create a movie-like suspended-screen story that is dark yet ends, the critic wrote, with a “charming, funny, life-affirming” lift.

Plexus Polaire’s reworking of Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House,” directed by Yngvild Aspeli and Paola Rizza, was described as a deliberately scrambled, largely one-woman staging in which Aspeli plays Nora while puppeteering realistic, life-size puppets. The review noted striking visuals—including puppet tarantulas and a set that shifts from bright domesticity to shadowy menace—but said the production felt more cerebral than emotionally grounded; the company’s other festival piece, “Trust Me for a While,” was reported to run through Saturday.

chicago international puppet theater festival, chicago puppet festival, plexus polaire, manual cinema, a doll's house review, the 4th witch, yngvild aspeli, drew dir, plexus polaire american premiere, manual cinema hometown premiere, life-size puppets, paper cutouts