Puppetopia 2025: Variations on (the) Water
Dream Music Puppetry presents
PUPPETOPIA 2025: VARIATIONS ON (THE) WATER
May 28-June 1, 2025
A solo puppet work created by Lake Simons and John Dyer
Accompanied by music composed by John Dyer
Variations on (the) Water is experimental by design. It breaks down puppetry to its most simple base, devoid of expected form and asks the viewer to imagine. Together, the audience and the performer bring forward image and story, giving equal energy to nurture a personal yet shared story. Empathy blossoms and through the abstracted imagery we find a shared story and experience. An exploration of Simons & Dyer’s Raft Project (My Shapes Are In Turmoil) a full length wordless puppet theatre work.
HERE’s Puppetopia, a two-week puppetry state of mind, returns for its fourth annual edition. Curated by HERE Co-Founder Barbara Busackino and Dream Music Artistic Director and star Alum Basil Twist, the festival presents original work.
See all three Puppetopia 2025 productions—The Harlem Doll Palace, Variations on (the) Water, and Rhynoceron—with our special $90 Package!
Dates: May 28- June 1, 2025
Location: HERE’s Dorothy B. Williams Theater (DOT), 145 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY
Performances:
Wednesday, May 28th: 8:30 pm
Thursday, May 29th: 8:30 pm
Friday, May 30th: 8:30 pm
Saturday, May 31st: 4 pm and 8:30 pm
Runtime: 45 minutes
Ticket Prices: 10 for $10, $35, $50, $100
See all three Puppetopia 2025 productions—The Harlem Doll Palace, Variations on (the) Water, and Rhynoceron—with our special $90 Package!
Click Here to Purchase Puppetopia 2025 Package
We understand the extreme challenges that our current financial climate presents. No matter your socioeconomic status, we want everyone to have access to groundbreaking art. There are ten tickets priced at $10 available for each performance on a first-come, first-served basis, for those in need of financial assistance. These tickets are available with the code ACCESS. Limit two tickets per patron. Subject to availability.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Lake Simons is a Texas raised, Brooklyn based director, designer, puppeteer, and physical theatre performer. Her original theatre productions utilize movement, puppetry, and live music to create stylized visual storytelling for the stage. She is a believer in the childhood ability to play “make-believe” and her creations encourage the viewer, of any age, to rediscover their own ability to do so. Lake has collaborated with a multitude of musicians, performers, designers, and artists throughout her lengthy, 30 plus year, career. She has received seven Jim Henson Foundation grants in support of her original puppetry productions. Lake is the Managing Artistic Director of Hip Pocket Theatre in Ft Worth, TX. Her productions have been seen at HERE Arts Center, La MaMa, Dixon Place, One Arm Red, Miller Theatre, and Hip Pocket Theatre. Career highlights: Puppet Designer for Have You Met Jane Goodall and Her Mother? (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Associate Puppetry Director for Warhorse (Lincoln Center), Puppetry Coach for Wolf Play (MCC), and co-director for the Puppet Lab at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, NY. Lake teaches puppetry at Sarah Lawrence College and is a teaching artist with Arts Connection in NYC. She is an alum of Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris, France and North Carolina School of the Arts.