Physical Theater Festival Chicago will return for its 12th edition from June. Physical Theater Festival Chicago brings to our city audience-beloved, virtuosic live performances from around the world that inspire theatergoers and local artists to reimagine what a live theater experience can be and do across cultures, languages, and genres.

Schedule:

Monday, June 2, 2025

7:00 p.m: Scratch Night by Various Artists Show ??

Scratch Night is a curated showcase of works-in-progress fostering the development of  innovative local theatre makers. Scratch Night features 6 previews of original contemporary, visual, and physical theatre by Chicago artists. Produced by Scott Ray Merchant, Scratch Night aims to provide a social space for community, conversation, and collaboration.

Scratch Night Line Up: ?
Legland: Danny Gadaj, Connor Konz, Mo Less
Daughterboy Collective: Felipe Carrasco and Camilla Frontain with movement direction by Chih Jou Cheng
Theatre Nobody: Kevin Michael Wesson, Dawn Heilung, Lindsey Ball and Felix
Sunshine Lombré: Tanima
Taking Flight: Laura Torres, Carmen Kingsley and Valeria Rosero

Tuesday, June 3, 2025

7:00 p.m: Being Made in Chicago: Well-Balanced Dads + Sensation(S)

The new Being Made in Chicago series offers two local artists or companies up to 40 minutes each to showcase new work developed from pieces previously presented at Scratch Night.

Well-Balanced Dads is a family-friendly comedy about two dads navigating life after their kids leave the nest. Through partner acrobatics, audience interaction, and a lot of cringey Dad-isms, Dick and Dale take the audience on a camping adventure, complete with a beloved minivan, cheese sticks, and spooky ghost stories. This hilarious duo plays with levity while weaving in deeper themes like finding your inner child, hypermasculinity, and their own relationships with their fathers.

Richie Schiraldi and Britt Anderson (Whisper Theatre) are Chicago-based physical theater artists that have been performing locally and internationally for the last decade. Britt specializes in movement and voice for comedy, clown, solo performance, and story adaptation. Richie focuses in ensemble-devised performance, working on projects that involve dreams and cryptic creatures, and is also a Cyr Wheel performer. The Well-Balanced Dads were born from Broken Planet Show, which toured Chicago for 2 years and went to the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Dads have been seen at the 2022 Scratch Night by Physical Theater Festival, Sanctuary at Aloft Circus Arts, and the Body Passages Residency at Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, where they developed the full length show.

Sensation(s)
Coming back from her venture abroad, a depressed woman beyond the verge of a nervous breakdown seeks answers in her sadness and her senses, questioning the world around her in search of relief and through other, more colorful, worlds that she can escape to and find solace in. Through the use of clowning, movement, and song, this time, she embarks on a journey inward towards reclaiming pieces of herself and perhaps gathering some new pieces along the way.

Amanda Raquel Martinez is a Puerto Rican interdisciplinary artist drawing from the realms of theatre, opera, yoga, songwriting, circus, and dance to create multifaceted work. Originally from the Bronx, she has made her home in Chicago's theatre scene over the last decade and is grateful to present some of her original work with Physical Theatre Festival! Chicago credits include: Circus Quixotic (Actors Gymnasium); Somewhere Over the Border (Teatro Vista); American Mariachi (Goodman Theatre); American Bottom; 33 to Nothing (A Red Orchid Theatre); Ghost Quartet (Black Button Eyes Productions); La Ruta (Steppenwolf); Big Lake, Big City (Lookingglass Theatre); Cinderella at the Theater of Potatoes (Hypocrites); As You Like It; Love, Loss and What I Wore (First Folio Theatre); For the Love Of (Pride Films and Plays); Even Longer and Farther Away (The New Coordinates); El Stories: The Holiday Train (Waltzing Mechanics.) Regional Credits include: Kitty Hawk (Adrienne Arsht Center) Frankenstein (The McCarter Theatre in association with Lookingglass Theatre) Pirates of Penzance (Skirball Theatre Center); Resurrecting Wildflowers (HERE:Arts Center); Pirates of Penzance (Pasadena Playhouse); Pirates of Penzance; The Mikado (Olney Theatre Center.) She is a recipient of a Joseph Jefferson Award for her role in this production.

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

7:00 p.m: Un Poyo Rojo (Argentina) Show

Two men and a live radio in a dressing room, face each other, challenge, fight and seduce each other. An interesting cross between dance, sports and sexuality. A work that, based on body language, explores the limits of contemporary language, regarding movement and its subsequent interpretations. A provocation, an invitation to laugh at ourselves, and at the same time, recognize our totality. Un Poyo Rojo, mixes acrobatics and humor.  See it as kitch, cliché, or a striking expression of the physical and spiritual possibilities of the human being.

Thursday, June 5, 2025

10:00 a.m - 1:00 p.m: Un Poyo Rojo Workshop

7:00 p.m: Un Poyo Rojo (Argentina) Show???
Two men and a live radio in a dressing room, face each other, challenge, fight and seduce each other. An interesting cross between dance, sports and sexuality. A work that, based on body language, explores the limits of contemporary language, regarding movement and its subsequent interpretations. A provocation, an invitation to laugh at ourselves, and at the same time, recognize our totality. Un Poyo Rojo, mixes acrobatics and humor.  See it as kitch, cliché, or a striking expression of the physical and spiritual possibilities of the human being.

8:15 p.m: Rewind by Ephemeral Ensemble (Brazil, Colombia, Iceland and UK) Show????
Ephemeral ensemble is a multi-award winning and critically acclaimed international physical theatre collective. We make work driven by a theme or a question, which inspires us to find fact-based stories that shine a light on current hidden social issues. Collaboration between the artistic team, the community and professionals in other fields is vital to our process. Our work is political, visually striking, highly dynamic, thought provoking and moving at heart. We combine the high physicality of the performers, original music and playful interaction with the stagecraft to create a narrative.

9:15 p.m: Knight Knight by Madeleine Rowe Show
Fresh from their smash hit run at Edinburgh Festival Fringe and a sold out New York premiere at Union Hall, Gaulier-trained clown Madeleine Rowe brings their iconic and iconoclastic Medieval romp to  Physical Theatre Festival Chicago. "The funniest take on Arthurian legend since Monty Python" (Steve Bennett, Chortle), Knight, Knight is a wild one-person clown show of courage, determination, brotherhood, grief, and most of all, horses. Madeleine Rowe (they/them) is a clown, teacher, and local Medieval knight. They are the creator and performer of solo shows Knight, Knight and Honey, I'm Home. Other theatrical credits include Orpehus in the Underworld (Spymonkey, Vienna Volksoper), as well as shows with Four Humors, Clarence Brown Theater, and Yellow Tree Theater. Madeleine's training includes work with renowned clown teacher Philippe Gaulier, acclaimed British comedy troupe Spymonkey, and MFA actor training from the University of Tennessee.

Friday, June 6, 2025

10:00 a.m -1:00 p.m: Ephemeral Ensemble Workshop

7:00 p.m: Black is the Color of my Voice Show??
Inspired by the life of Nina Simone, and featuring many of her most iconic songs performed live. Apphia Campbell’s acclaimed play follows a successful singer and civil rights activist as she seeks redemption after the untimely death of her father. She reflects on the journey that took her from a young piano prodigy destined for a life in the service of the church, to a renowned jazz vocalist at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement. The show has toured the UK and Australia to standing ovations and played sell-out seasons in Shanghai, New York, Edinburgh and the West End of London.?

8:00 p.m: Rewind by Ephemeral Ensemble (Brazil, Colombia, Iceland and UK) Show?
Ephemeral ensemble is a multi-award winning and critically acclaimed international physical theatre collective. We make work driven by a theme or a question, which inspires us to find fact-based stories that shine a light on current hidden social issues. Collaboration between the artistic team, the community and professionals in other fields is vital to our process. Our work is political, visually striking, highly dynamic, thought provoking and moving at heart. We combine the high physicality of the performers, original music and playful interaction with the stagecraft to create a narrative.

9:00 p.m: Un Poyo Rojo (Argentina) Show
Two men and a live radio in a dressing room, face each other, challenge, fight and seduce each other. An interesting cross between dance, sports and sexuality. A work that, based on body language, explores the limits of contemporary language, regarding movement and its subsequent interpretations. A provocation, an invitation to laugh at ourselves, and at the same time, recognize our totality. Un Poyo Rojo, mixes acrobatics and humor.  See it as kitch, cliché, or a striking expression of the physical and spiritual possibilities of the human being.

Saturday, June 7, 2025

10:00 a.m - 1:00 p.m: Apphia Campbell Workshop Workshop ???

3:00 p.m: Rewind by Ephemeral Ensemble (Brazil, Colombia, Iceland and UK) Show
Ephemeral ensemble is a multi-award winning and critically acclaimed international physical theatre collective. We make work driven by a theme or a question, which inspires us to find fact-based stories that shine a light on current hidden social issues. Collaboration between the artistic team, the community and professionals in other fields is vital to our process. Our work is political, visually striking, highly dynamic, thought provoking and moving at heart. We combine the high physicality of the performers, original music and playful interaction with the stagecraft to create a narrative.

7:00 p.m: Un Poyo Rojo (Argentina) Show
Two men and a live radio in a dressing room, face each other, challenge, fight and seduce each other. An interesting cross between dance, sports and sexuality. A work that, based on body language, explores the limits of contemporary language, regarding movement and its subsequent interpretations. A provocation, an invitation to laugh at ourselves, and at the same time, recognize our totality. Un Poyo Rojo, mixes acrobatics and humor.  See it as kitch, cliché, or a striking expression of the physical and spiritual possibilities of the human being.

8:00 p.m: Rewind by Ephemeral Ensemble (Brazil, Colombia, Iceland and UK) Show
Ephemeral ensemble is a multi-award winning and critically acclaimed international physical theatre collective. We make work driven by a theme or a question, which inspires us to find fact-based stories that shine a light on current hidden social issues. Collaboration between the artistic team, the community and professionals in other fields is vital to our process. Our work is political, visually striking, highly dynamic, thought provoking and moving at heart. We combine the high physicality of the performers, original music and playful interaction with the stagecraft to create a narrative.

9:00 p.m: Knight Knight by Madeleine Rowe Show
Fresh from their smash hit run at Edinburgh Festival Fringe and a sold out New York premiere at Union Hall, Gaulier-trained clown Madeleine Rowe brings their iconic and iconoclastic Medieval romp to  Physical Theatre Festival Chicago. "The funniest take on Arthurian legend since Monty Python" (Steve Bennett, Chortle), Knight, Knight is a wild one-person clown show of courage, determination, brotherhood, grief, and most of all, horses. Madeleine Rowe (they/them) is a clown, teacher, and local Medieval knight. They are the creator and performer of solo shows Knight, Knight and Honey, I'm Home. Other theatrical credits include Orpehus in the Underworld (Spymonkey, Vienna Volksoper), as well as shows with Four Humors, Clarence Brown Theater, and Yellow Tree Theater. Madeleine's training includes work with renowned clown teacher Philippe Gaulier, acclaimed British comedy troupe Spymonkey, and MFA actor training from the University of Tennessee.

Sunday, June 8, 2025

10:00 a.m - 1:00 p.m: Madeleine Rowe Workshop  

11:00 a.m: Adventure Sandwich Show
Adventure Sandwich: A Sandwich Adventure! is a new live-action-cartoon musical made for people and sandwiches of all ages. Join Hoagie (a sandwich) and Lily (a human) as they make their way from the streets of Possibilopolis to the depths of the Several Seas and beyond. Will they find the secret recipe for Imaginnaise. Will they escape Dr. Distracto’s Den of Diversions. Or will they get stuck in The Buffer Zone. Find out on June 8th at the Physical Theater Festival.

2:00 p.m: Black is the Color of my Voice Show
Inspired by the life of Nina Simone, and featuring many of her most iconic songs performed live. Apphia Campbell’s acclaimed play follows a successful singer and civil rights activist as she seeks redemption after the untimely death of her father. She reflects on the journey that took her from a young piano prodigy destined for a life in the service of the church, to a renowned jazz vocalist at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement. The show has toured the UK and Australia to standing ovations and played sell-out seasons in Shanghai, New York, Edinburgh and the West End of London.

Date: June 2 - 8, 2025

Location:

Theater Wit
1229 W. Belmont Ave.
Chicago, IL 60657

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