The two-week winter puppetry festival, Puppetopia 2026, curated by HERE Arts Center runs from Tuesday, February 17 through Sunday, March 1, featuring a lineup of three performances that utilize intricate puppetry, live music, and innovative storytelling techniques:
Parched: Presented by Official Puppet Business
In the far-flung future, water scarcity has led to humanity’s extinction. A sentient mushroom, inhabiting plastic bottles like a hermit crab, is scouring the wastes for water. Getting lost in a sandstorm she stumbles upon a remnant of human technology, a deep well drill, and manages to turn it on. The earth trembles as the machinery is resurrected, succeeding in extracting some water, but also awakening something forgotten, buried deep in the sand. Something with an insatiable thirst…
Ruby & Charlie: Produced by Jessica Simon & Co.
Ruby & Charlie is an award-winning piece of puppet theater featuring live music celebrating swing dance and the music of Ray Charles. Mining the iconic music’s themes of longing, love, and heartbreak, the work centers on a young couple in the 1950s brought together by swing dance. Highlighting the puppetry talents of Victor Ayala, Tau Bennett, Maria Camia, Monica Lerch, Kayta Thomas, and Ashley Winkfield, Ruby & Charlie follows the pair through a whirlwind courtship and the tensions of establishing a life together. Musicians Jordyn Davis, Jeremiah Flack, and Milton Suggs, drive the show which culminates in a swing dance celebration on stage with the audience.
The Magnificent Ms. Pham: Produced by Puppetual Motion, Written by Tommy Nguyen, Co-Directed by Tommy Nguyen & Doug Fitch
The world’s first-ever Vietnamese American water puppet show, bringing the millennium old Vietnamese tradition to these shores to tell new stories in a disobediently untraditional way, The Magnificent Ms. Pham is a fantastic retelling of the true story of boatperson Kim Pham and her unwitting journey to becoming American. Moving fluidly between lived experience, memory, literature, and myth, this work reframes her exodus from Saigon to Houston as a Country Western Musical with original songs and music direction by downtown theatre marvel MUR and additional music by Vietnamese American composer Hao Le. This story of self-discovery and resilience is told through humor, spectacle, and song, celebrating the bonds of sisterhood and feminine power.
For scheduling and ticket information and to purchase, click here.
HERE Arts Center is located at 145 6th Avenue in New York City.
