Every January, our city becomes host to a veritable United Nations of Puppetry — and these acts are Chicago’s ambassadors.

People react one of two ways to marionette maker Gustave Baumann’s string puppets: They either find the wooden creations unnerving or they find them fascinating, says Ellen Zieselman ...

when Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary about a marionette show. Modern-day artists to have cut their teeth as street performers in Covent Garden include Cirque Du Soleil, STOMP and Dynamo.