Free Street Theater Wants People To ‘Touch Grass’ In New Puppet Show

CHICAGO — Through its puppet show “Touch Grass,” Free Street Theater aims to encourage Chicagoans to learn more about trees — and help plant them in the city.

From Wednesday through July 30, “Touch Grass” will bring a giant 12-foot puppet and various interactive installations to parks around the West and South sides, inviting visitors to learn more about what trees do in a community, Free Street’s Strategic Director Coya Paz told Block Club.

For example, there will be a “tree gossip” station where people can talk to each other through trees while learning about mycelium networks — which are how trees communicate with one another underground, Paz said.

“Touch Grass” runs for about an hour, with the same 10-minute puppet show performed at the top and bottom of the hour, plus time in between for Chicagoans to explore pop-up exhibitions and activities at their own pace.

“We try to create education about trees that’s also really fun and silly and gets people excited about how they can be advocates for more equitable tree canopies in their neighborhoods,” Paz said. “It’s kind of like an interactive, fun, traveling science exhibit.”

The all-ages show is part of the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks series and is offered in English and Spanish. It’s co-directed by Paz and Sivan Spector.

“Touch Grass” will be at Davis Square Park 4430 S. Marshfield Ave., July 22; Cornell Square Park, 1809 W. 50th St., July 24; Gage Park, 2411 W. 55th St., July 25; Sherman Park, 1301 W. 52nd St., July 29; and Kucinski-Murphy Park, 1635 W. 33rd Place, July 30.

Find more information and times for all “Touch Grass” shows here.

Per its name, Free Street started in 1969 as a free street theater, bringing the arts into communities that typically didn’t have access to institutional theater, Paz said. For about 15 years, through the late ’90s and early 2000s, Free Street was exclusively a youth theater company, she said.

“Free Street started as a theater company where adult professionals were touring around the city with this idea that … the best audience was someone who didn’t know they were going to see a play that day,” Paz said. “That’s how you reach people.”

Paz joined Free Street in 2011 and helped turn the company into what it is today — an arts and social justice organization that works to uplift and engage the South and West side communities in which it’s active, Paz said. That’s why for every show, Free Street also partners with other local organizations whose missions align.

For “Touch Grass,” Free Street is working with the Morton Arboretum Tree Ambassador Program, which provides Chicago residents with training, resources and funding to help plant trees in their neighborhoods, according to the program’s webpage.

“All of the work we do is closely tied to organizing community-based organizing in the neighborhoods where we’re working,” Paz said. “When we think about theater serving the city or being a social justice project, that can’t just be the play. It has to be a more comprehensive relationship with organizers and community members, and so we work really hard to think about our plays as part of a tactic in a larger strategy for change. And I think that’s a really necessary thing from the arts right now.”

The goal is to get enough Chicagoans on board to get at least 100 trees planted through the Tree Ambassador Program, Paz said.

Getting more trees planted on the South and West sides, which typically have fewer trees outside of parks than other parts of the city, is one way to make the city more equitable, she said.

“Environmental justice is a big part of our mission and our work, especially our work in Back of the Yards, because that’s a neighborhood that’s historically the target of disproportionate pollution,” Paz said. “If you’re not thinking a lot about trees and green space, to talk about canopy inequity can be kind of surprising. We know that trees help with cleaner air. We know that trees cool a community. We know that trees can provide a sense of calm and relaxation.”

To help neighbors learn more about the city’s green spaces and how to help them, Free Street will have an information table at all “Touch Grass” shows. Other local organizations, like Plant Chicago, will also be there, Paz said.

“One of the things we say a lot at Free Street is, ‘Anything made by people can be changed by people,’ so we’re always … thinking about how we make our communities sort of stronger and more equitable,” Paz said. “A single theater company or a single play isn’t going to make a huge difference by itself, but it can be a really useful introduction, welcome or invitation to organizing.”

Find out more about the project on the Free Street website.