Prophetic pigeons and Bunraku puppets enjoy a return engagement at HERE Arts Center.

Global warming, global war, gluten — there are plenty of things to be terrified of within the uncontrollable chaos of daily life. We can now add flocks of conspiring pigeons to the list thanks to The Pigeoning, a surprisingly touching piece of theater, unconventionally layered with far-fetched imagination and Bunraku-style puppetry. Creator and director Robin Frohardt brings The Pigeoning back to HERE Arts Center for a return engagement following its December 2013 run. Her intricately crafted puppet protagonist, Frank, wears the stern expression of many a bedraggled member of the modern workforce, not to mention a similarly apropos costume of high-waisted brown pants, ill-matching black shoes, and thick coke-bottle glasses. Plagued by obsessive compulsions, Frank sits at his desk attempting to read a thick binder labeled “Office Safety Manual” while he frenetically plucks tissue after tissue to scrub everything from the lip of his Styrofoam coffee cup to his spotless nameplate. His paranoia is sent into a dizzying spiral after a few chance encounters with some suspicious-looking park pigeons who may or may not be prophesying a biblical Armageddon.