Flyer puppets by Ellis Weiler (@ellis.makes.some.art) from June 2026 PiPs.

Puppets-in-Progress with Theatre Y!

A FREE puppet community meeting for you! Join us to see cool puppets-in-process of creation; all stages of development are invited to share a community space for experimentation. Everyone is welcome! Bring a project, prototype, sketch, or idea, no matter how rough, or just come for the conversation! Stick around for a brief introduction to our hosts @theatrey & all the amazing work they do!

What is PiPs?

PiPs is an informal gathering for testing out new puppet and object-based performances. Bring whatever you’re working on and get encouragement and feedback from other disciplines & puppet-folks! Puppets in Progress has sister branches in NYC at @greenfeatherorg & Minneapolis at @intheheartofthebeast.

About our special guest: Theater Y

Theatre Y is a Chicago-based international incubator that creates connections between diverse artists seeking mutual growth through collaboration. Since 2006, Theatre Y has been a point of convergence for diverse activisms, and all of the uncomfortable conversations that happen as a result. Artistic director Melissa Lorraine and the Theatre Y ensemble are committed to continuously re-thinking the practice of theater as a tool of liberation and a revolutionary practice, bringing Theatre Y to venues ranging from LaMaMa’s historical theater to Illinois prisons. As an organization committed to prison abolition, Theatre Y is in partnership with men serving natural life sentences on arts campaigns towards reparative justice for the incarcerated and continues to innovate in the fight for social justice. Theatre Y, which is now in its 19th year of experimental productions, challenging international content, and a member-based FREE theater model, occupies a unique place in Chicago's theater community.