Chicago Women of Color Puppetry and Performing Arts Fringe Festival giving a voice to the voiceless

 

 

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

Jacqueline Wade created the Chicago Women of Color Puppetry and Performing Arts Fringe Festival to give a voice to the voiceless.

Fittingly enough, the festival kicked off on Jan. 20, which was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The festival will continue through March 22 at Zhou B Art Center, 4th Floor Women of Color Theatre, 1029 West 35th St., Chicago.

More information, including a festival schedule, is at https://chicagowomenofcolorfest.com/festival-schedule.

I had the chance to talk to Wade about the festival.

Q – Great talking to you. I understand the idea for the festival came from your participation in the Chicago Puppet Lab, which is part of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival. Can you elaborate on this?

 

Yes. I was in the second class of the Puppet Lab, which was part of the Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival. I was in the lab for about nine months, creating a show called "Consuewella Triptych in MOVE."

 

This was a puppet show that had a Giant John African puppet and more than 18 other puppets, most of which I designed, sculpted and was lead builder on. I also had assistance from some others.

 

"Consuewella Triptych in MOVE" was a show about the MOVE family, who had been bombed by the city of Philadelphia in 1985.  Eleven members of the MOVE family died that day and 65 homes were burned down. 

 

The story unfolds through Consuwella's eyes. At the end of the puppet lab, "Consuewella Triptych in MOVE," along with other lab works, were presented at the Chopin Theatre. 

 

My show was later expanded and picked up by Trap Door Theatre. From there, the show went to the New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival. 

 

In late August, it went to the Puppets of Paradise Festival in Asheville, North Carolina. Beside the Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival lab helping me to give birth to my puppet performance piece, the lab made me yearn for more. 

 

I needed additional mentoring aside from what I had received from the lab. This was even expressed to them by myself and others who were part of the lab. However, I never got this from the festival. 

 

Perhaps the festival did not have the manpower, budget or interest. I'm not sure, but no one ever really got back to me about it. 

 

However, I felt I was one of the lucky ones who was able to have my show develop and go to other places. Yet, I still yearned for a mentor to help me improve my skills and guide me along the way. 

 

Since the Chicago International Puppetry Theatre Festival basically deals with bringing the best of the best from all over the world, if things change, it will be welcome.

However, I now feel that there needs to be another level, especially given the way the world is changing. This should include puppet performances like mine that are still under development. 

Q – Your festival opened on Jan. 20. What has the response been like? Has the response been better than you imagined?

 

The response has been a learning curve. We did not always have large audience attendance because we were not hooked into different networks and group sales systems in Chicago. 

 

Very few people who are part of the Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival have come to see it. It feels like we don’t exist in some people's minds, even though I and others have gone to support their festival each year. 

 

This past year, I spent close to $800 to see various shows at the other festival. Have they come to see our festival? Ask them.

 

However, that does not stop us. This is our first year, so we are still learning the ropes with some guidance and advice. 

 

We also do not have the following that the Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival has. That takes time.

 

But we are slowly beginning to have people who have heard about us through others come out and they loved the performances, workshops and talk-backs. We also received endorsements from various puppeteers who have been in the festival, thus far. 

 

One of the artists who performed two of his works in our festival said, “It felt like coming home. I feel community here.” 

 

Q – It seems like the issues being addressed at the festival are very timely, given what is happening in the United States these days. What do you hope that people who attend the festival get out of it?

 

I think by creating a festival that addresses social justice issues, gives voice to the voiceless, celebrates empowerment, gender, biodiversity, and a bunch of other things, that I am giving these voices a platform. Some of these same pieces may or may not have been accepted into the bigger festival because they did not meet certain criteria. 

 

 

The Chicago Women of Color Puppetry and Performing Arts Fringe Festival 2025 has pieces that are fully developed, but we also have work-shopped pieces that are rehearsed. The performances in our festival look at issues from various lenses that might be ignored or overlooked.

Q – How did you go about putting together the schedule for the festival? Were you looking to have a wide range of activities for attendees?

 

I put the schedule together based on the availability of the artists. A lot of the artists come from all over the country.

 

When I first started organizing the festival to take place for two weeks from late January through the first week of February, a lot of artists who were very interested were not available. 

 

There were other artists who felt the festival was only for BIPOC people, even though we said in our submission form, "we were open to all people." It was important to listen to the artists.

 

When I opened up my mind and asked when various artists were available, I got a positive response of what they could do and not do and, thus, expanded the festival to be more inclusive to the artist's needs. This influenced the scheduling. 

 

Yes, it is a different model. Yes, it is a long festival over two months from Jan 20 through March 22. 

 

We are also looking at our audience. We have learned many things from them.

 

Q – You design and make puppets. Your 18-foot tall Mumia puppet has gone on marches and demonstrations for Mumia Abu-Jamal and your 20-foot tall Mother Earth Puppet has been used for Veterans for Peace. How did you start working with puppets and what do you like about working with them?

 

 

I started working with puppets when I was at graduate school working on my second MFA in Integrated Media Program at Hunter. I was basically working on a hybrid documentary film and one day I saw a notice in the hallway from the theater department asking for volunteers for puppet builders and puppeteers for a performance.

 

I had done neither but began to volunteer. Next thing I knew, I was building, acting as a puppeteer, writing articles, seeing puppet shows, and so on. 

 

I was introduced to puppetry through Professor Claudia Orenstein at Hunter's Theatre department. I loved the idea of seeing giant puppets and started moving in that direction as I started going to marches in Philadelphia and New York for Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was accused of killing a police officer. 

 

When I would go to these marches, I would hear wonderful speakers. Yet, I kept wondering if there was a more immediate result of capturing the public's attention about the Mumia case. 

 

That is when the thought of an 18-foot tall puppet of Abu-Jamal came to me. If the people could see this giant puppet from a mile away, that could catch people's attention and they might wonder who this man was and think about the story behind his case.

 

Q – Are you already planning for next year's Chicago Women of Color Puppetry and Performing Arts Fringe Festival? What should people expect at next year's festival?

 

I am already planning next year's festival. I want to look closely at what worked and what didn't work this year.

 

I want to learn from it. I want to give myself more time in planning the festival. 

 

I want to have social justice issues as part of the festival along with other topics just as we did this time and offer even more. I want to get the community involved even more.

 

I also want to work with various organizations and see how we can collaborate to make things happen. I want to get more local puppeteers involved. 

 

I want to start to create a mentoring program and networking circle to develop more puppetry people, especially populations that may not have access to it, thus, setting up residences. 

 

I want to look for funding sources and other alternative ways of supporting the festival and artists involved in the festival. I want to collaborate with other festivals, schools, organizations, social activist groups and various other groups.

 

I want all people involved,  but also want find more ways to continue to bring in Black and Indigenous individuals. I want the festival to empower everyone who is part of it. 

 

I also want the festival to be a place where issues of the day are being discussed and change can happen. I also love the idea of bringing other art forms in as we did this year.