Intro to Puppetry

Led by Kevin Michael Wesson, puppeteer/deviser based in Chicago

WORKSHOP :: Friday, May 30, 2025 / 7:00 – 10:00 pm

✨In this workshop students will learn the basic skills to animate the inanimate through the three tenets of puppetry. Grounded in found object puppetry & tabletop puppetry, this workshop will serve as a base-level footing to venture into more specific and advanced types of puppetry, so animism can serve as a new tool for storytelling, spectacle, and play.✨

☀️ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR☀️
Kevin Michael Wesson (he/they) is a proudly unrepresented puppeteer/deviser based in Chicago, originally from Tampa, FL; Recent credits include: 𝘓𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘰! & 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭 (Manual Cinema), “𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳” 𝘰𝘳 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺 (Theatre Nobody), 𝘋𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘴; 𝘈𝘶𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘉𝘰𝘥𝘺  (Steppenwolf LOOKOUT), 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘹𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘴𝘦 𝘐-𝘐𝘝 (Rough House Theater), 𝘋𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 (Stop Motion plant), 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 (The Neo-Futurists). His works have been featured in American Theatre Magazine, The Chicago Cultural Center, No Proscenium, NPR, The Puppetry Journal, nomination for the National Puppet Slam, and various curation for/residencies with Agitator Artist Collective, Links Hall, Chicago Puppet Lab, The National Puppetry Conference, Valdez Theatre Conference, & The Intuit: Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art. A firm believer in DIY ethos, they currently organize works-in-progress & community programming for the Chicago-based puppet theatre company, Rough House Puppet Arts, the devised theatre ensemble, Stop Motion Plant, Physical Theater Festival Chicago, PUPPETQUEERS, and the experimental free theatre outfit, Theatre Nobody

🎨 MORE INFO AT: @xmungyx
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