July 14, 2026

Endless Forms

Monica Lerch
| Puppet Festival 2026

November 11-14

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[Program tbd]

Runtime: tbd

a world premiere

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.

Credits

Monica Lerch– Director, Lead Fabricator & Designer, Puppeteer

Jeshua Bratman– Writer, Producer, Digital Design

Sean Devare– Creative Co-Direction, Puppetry Designer & Puppeteer

Esme Roszel– Shadow Puppetry Designer & Puppeteer

Diane Boyle– Puppet Fabricator Jim Freeman- Puppet Fabricator

Will Carter– Puppet Fabricator

Kyle Reid– Sound Design and Composer

MI Leggett– Costume Designer

Daniel Montoro– Set Designer

Federico Restrepo– Lighting Designer

Kayta Thomas– Puppeteer

SJ Munford– Puppeteer

Aki Nikolaidis– Story Development

Illustration by Sean Devare

The artist

Monica Lerch
@monica_lark_

bio

Monica Lerch (she/any. Director, Lead Fabricator and Designer, Puppeteer) is a multidisciplinary puppet artist, director, performer, and fabricator based in Brooklyn, New York. Drawn to the intersections of myth, technology, and embodiment, her work explores how puppetry can both reveal and disrupt the human condition. She has collaborated with leading companies and artists across theatre , opera, and film. Recent projects include performing as both puppeteer and actor in El Niño at the Metropolitan Opera; Lunch with Sonia with Loco 7 Dance Puppet Theatre; Song of the North by Hamid Rahmanian, and serving as the Puppetry Director and performer for Cynthia, a new drag-puppet play developed in Berlin, Germany.

Jeshua Bratman
@nojeshua

bio

Jeshua Bratman (he/him. Lead Writer, Producer, Digital Design) 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.

The 12th La MaMa Puppet Festival Fall 2026 is made possible by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the Howard Gilman Foundation, The Jim Henson Foundation, and The Shubert Foundation. Additional support from Cheryl Henson is gratefully acknowledged.