Connect with our community venue partners

Connect with our mental health partners for
one woman hamlet

The Conductors producing partner, Kerfuffle

Kerfuffle is a midwestern theatre and dance company devoted to creating work with and for children under 6 years old. Kerfuffle brings high quality, aesthetically pleasing and emotionally interesting theatre to very young audiences.

Made up of an ensemble of artists who teach, write, design and perform, Kerfuffle creates playful, multi-sensory theatre with and for preschool children. In short, Kerfuffle partners directly WITH young children to create original plays FOR young children!

This process centers children as major creative partners in the development process of the plays they see. Watch the video below to learn more about Kerfuffle’s work, and also check them out at www.kerfuffletvy.com.

Producing partner, One Woman Hamlet

One Woman Hamlet: Shake(speare) the Stigma Surrounding Mental Health is a glimpse into the mind of creator, Kate Marie Smith, which has been written over the span of four years, supervised by mental health professionals, and from the heart of a creative who has dealt with mental health struggles her whole life. 

Watch Hamlet come to life anew and break the stigma surrounding mental health, with the use of loop stations, puppets, projections, and music. Together, we can realize that “It’s O.K Not To Be O.K.” One Woman Hamlet has been created with the support and partnership of Hope For The Day, an organization that achieves suicide prevention through mental health education and outreach.

At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 (a year after premiering the play), suicide rates skyrocketed amid the isolation and instability we all faced - proving that we are in need of more content that speaks to mental health and the stigma that surrounds it in our communities. Which is why Kate, and the award-winning and professional film team of Kseni Avonavi, Ayesha Abouelazm, and Brian Naughton came together to also create a filmed version, where Kate can speak directly to you at home.

The play first premiered in a self-produced performance at The Hideout in 2020, and has also appeared at Nasty, Brutish and Short: A Puppet Cabaret and The International Puppet Festival, all in Chicago. The film was selected to be featured in the 2022 Lift-Off Film Festival and the The NYC Indie Theater Film Festival.

Learn more about both the play and film at www.onewomanhamlet.com!

The Conductors (2024) IS SUPPORTED BY A GRANT FROM THE ILLINOIS ARTS COUNCIL, AN AGENCY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE MCLEAN COUNTY ARTS CENTER, AND THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.

One Woman Hamlet (2022) is partially supported financially by the Arts Midwest Gig fund

The conductors (2021) is partially supported financially by the Chicago Department of Cultural affairs & special events

The Conductors Rehearsal Space generously donated by: