a scifi puppetry myth for a post-human future
World Premiere · La MaMa Puppet FestivalNew York City · November 2026
Created by Monica Lerch & Jeshua BratmanSupported by the Jim Henson Foundation
“There’s grandeur in this view of life, which first blew into one form or a few, while this planet revolved and has gone cycling on; from so simple a beginning, forms most wonderful are being evolved.”
Far from now, but not that far, it is a crime to engineer the body. For Syx, whose body is slowly withering, this ban is a death sentence. Refusing to disappear in the name of purity, she operates in secret: altering herself to survive, building robotic companions, and seeking a form that can hold her.
Her journey leads beneath the ocean to a commune of transformed humans who have fled the surface. But the wholeness they offer asks Syx to surrender the self she has fought to preserve.
Blending tabletop puppetry, shadow play, digital projection, and electronic music, Endless Forms follows Syx through a series of changes as she seeks a form always just beyond reach.
Endless Forms is presented with the support of the Jim Henson Foundation.
Part of the La MaMa Puppet Festival — La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New York City.
Monica Lerch (she/any) is a Brooklyn-based puppet artist, director, performer, and fabricator whose work explores the intersections of myth, technology, and embodiment. She has performed and collaborated internationally across theater, opera, and film, including El Niño at the Metropolitan Opera, Lunch with Sonia with Loco 7 Dance Puppet Theatre, and Song of the North by Hamid Rahmanian, and served as team lead and head puppeteer for “Tiptoe,” the 17-foot reindeer created with Phantom Limb Company for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Her puppetry has been supported by The Jim Henson Foundation and presented at venues and festivals including La MaMa ETC, BAM, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Schaubude Berlin, La Mama Umbria, Pesta Boneka, Festival Internacional Cervantino, and Festival Casteliers. On screen she appears in Tetsuya Mariko’s Before Anyone Else and HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness. She is currently developing Endless Forms and serving as puppetry director, performer, and co-fabricator for Cynthia, a new drag-puppet play developed in Berlin.
Jeshua Bratman (he/him) is a New York–based speculative fiction writer, comedian, and producer working across science fiction, comedy, puppetry, and performance. He created and staged the ensemble sketch shows The Examined Life and Corporate Meditations, and wrote and produced the stop-motion puppetry short Goodnight Moon. Trained in machine learning and cognitive science, Jeshua develops stories that translate complex systems — intelligence, evolution, technology, embodiment — into human stakes and theatrical worlds. He is currently developing Endless Forms, an original sci-fi puppet work premiering in 2026, as writer, producer, and co-creator with Monica Lerch.
Sean Devare (he/him) is a NYC-based interdisciplinary designer, director, actor, musician, and educator. His passion for puppetry and ancient performance traditions has brought him to Bali, India, Ecuador, and Sicily. His original devised work has been featured at Mabou Mines, HERE Arts Center, Puppet BloK at Dixon Place, KinoSaito, and Williams College, where he was a resident artist and visiting faculty in the theatre department. Past puppet and mask fabrication clients include The Public, The Chase Brock Experience, Flint Rep, PAO Arts, and Think!Chinatown. Associate Artist at Fault Line Theatre; Associate Director at Kinding Sindaw. BFA Illustration, RISD; MFA Theatre, Sarah Lawrence. seandevare.com
Esme Roszel (he/him) is a puppeteer and illustrator based in Brooklyn, NY. He holds a BFA in Puppet Arts from the University of Connecticut. His work has been seen at BAM, Symphony Space, Dixon Place, Puppet Showplace Theater, and The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry. When not performing he has taught puppetry workshops at UConn, Inly School, The Woodward School, Thayer Academy, and many other small-town theaters across New England. See his funny doodles at @esmeroszel.
Bio coming soon.
Jim Freeman (he/him) focuses on solving difficult fabrication and engineering problems for puppetry artists. He’s best known as the builder and technical advisor for the eight-month Object Movement Puppetry Festival residency in New York, is the principal technical partner for Tristan Allen, and serves a roster of independent artists. Jim also builds and programs custom microprocessor-based electronics for lighting, audio, and animatronics. He learned his craft in the 1970s, working for Nicolo Marionettes.
William PK Carter (she/he/they) is a quilter and puppet artist based in Central Valley, New York, bridging the puppet and fine art worlds by fabricating wondrous creatures that exist at the intersection of queerness and blackness. She received her BS in Studio Art from Skidmore College in 2023, and her work has been exhibited and performed in theaters, galleries, and museums across the country, including Puppet Showplace Theater, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Dixon Place, Textile Arts Center, The Ritz Theatre, the Tang Teaching Museum, Wonzimer Gallery, and The Trout Museum of Art. She is the recipient of the Jim Henson Foundation Workshop Grant (2026), recently completed Ann Street Gallery’s Emerging Artist Fellowship, and is currently a resident artist at La MaMa developing Beautiful Without Consequence. WilliamPKCarter.com
Bio coming soon.
Bio coming soon.
Bio coming soon.
Bio coming soon.
Bio coming soon.
Bio coming soon.
Aki Nikolaidis (he/him) has spent 15 years at the intersection of neuroscience, mental health, and technology, developing tools that make science more human-centered. He’s fascinated by the past, the future, and how both cultural and digital technologies shape our understanding of the human condition. When he’s not trying to make sci-fi ideas into reality, he’s often cooking for friends, exploring creative projects, or out dancing. This is his first puppet show.