ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar
The Walls of Harrow House
A new genre of puppetry. Immerse yourself in horror. Announcing our world premiere of monstrous fun.
**Recommended for ages 14+**
On October 11th, Rough House unleashes genre-blurring immersive puppet horror upon the Chopin Theater. Tickets on sale now.
708.955.7675
Here at ChiIL Mama and ChiIL Live Shows, we adore Rough House and can't wait to catch their groundbreaking Halloween show, The Walls of Harrow House. We got a sneak peek at a few Harrow House scenes and characters in last month's Nasty, Brutish and Short: A Puppet Cabaret. It's crazy busy review season, so I'm booked solid on opening weekend, but hoping to catch the show by the 19th. There are two shows a night every Thursday through Saturday starting October 11th. Got your tickets yet? This looks to be a Halloween must see, so don't wait till they're sold out.
Photo Credit for all: Christine Kozol
Part haunted house, part immersive puppet theater, The Walls of Harrow House opens its doors to visitors this Fall. Starting October 11th, at the Chopin Theatre, audiences will descend into Rough House’s gorgeous, dark, and surreal world where a mad architect’s relentless pursuit of utopia has gone horribly awry.
You are invited to a once-in-a-lifetime tour of Harrow House, the secluded home and studio of Milton Harrow, the world’s most influential and reclusive architect. With no guide but your own instincts, you’ll be set loose in the infamous home to discover its secrets, free to pull on whatever threads you encounter and become entangled in the terrifying tale that unspools around you.
Within Harrow House’s mouldering walls, you will meet its monstrous inhabitants – the architect’s family, assistants, and his most fervent followers. Each one has made an unthinkable sacrifice to the mad architect’s insatiable hunger for a world that conforms only to his design.
Through puppetry, environmental and sonic design, Harrow House will bring you face to face with cosmic horrors, nightmarish to behold and yet...uncannily familiar. Harrow House asks: can we not only face our fears, but meet them? Can we find empathy for those who frighten us?
Creative Team
Conceived and Directed by Mike Oleon Lead Puppet Design by Grace Needlman Script by Mark Maxwell and Claire Saxe Set designed by Lauren Nigri
Costumes designed by Caitlin McLeod and Anna Wooden Lighting design by Becca Jeffords
Sound design by Corey Smith
About the Company
Rough House Theater Co. is on a mission to connect individuals and communities through art that celebrates the weird things that make us unique and the weirder things that bring us together. Rough House creates theater that captures the heart through the eye. Their shows use puppetry, music, and human performance to tell intimate stories, as strange as they are sincere.
Through performances, presentations of work by fellow artists, and artist training, Rough House aspires to make Chicago a national hub of contemporary puppet theater, comprising a diverse and ever-growing community of audiences and artists.
The company’s work has appeared in the National Puppetry Festival, The Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival, punk houses, funeral parlors, a lotion factory, and the woods of Appalachia.
SHOW SCHEDULE: “The Walls of Harrow House” performs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, October 11th through November 3. Additional shows will be held on Halloween, Wednesday October 31st. Visit ticketing page for exact event details. Press opening Oct 10th.
TICKETS AND INFO: Tickets on sale now at roughhousetheater.com
TICKET PRICES: $25 General Admission. $15 for Students/Industry/Earners of less than $25k per year.
