Variations On (The) Water
- Yani Perez
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
At this year's Puppetopia festival, Variations On (The) Water offered a gentle, wordless journey as fluid as its title suggests.
Performed as part of HERE's Puppetopia 2025, this short, nonverbal piece invited the audience into a gentle world of transformation, flow, and play. Using abstract puppetry and precise movement, the artists brought to life the essence of water in its many forms: rippling, trickling, rushing, and evaporating, creating an emotional arc that flowed through the space like a current.
Lake Simons's performance grounded the piece with warmth and quiet charisma. With expressive gestures and a playful rapport with the puppets and props, she invited the audience into the world with ease. Her charm is effortless, radiating curiosity, delight, and a gentle whimsy. Adding to the tenderness were the sweet cameo appearances by her daughter, which brought an extra layer of intimacy and joy to the performance.
A carefully composed score by John Dyer guided the pace and emotion, shifting from playful rhythms to serene soundscapes. It created a vivid sense of place and mood, functioning almost like a silent narrator for the audience to follow. The music carried the piece from moment to moment, acting as narrator, scene partner, and choreographer all at once. The puppeteers moved with such attentiveness to the rhythm that the line between human and element often blurred.
There is something refreshingly sincere about Variations of Water. It doesn't push for meaning but instead allows room for personal interpretation. The overall effect was light and imaginative, with moments of quiet beauty.
Variations On (The) Water offers a peaceful pause, a small sensory reflection on motion, change, and stillness- a tiny meditation in motion. In a noisy world, Variations of Water reminds us how much can be said in silence.
Written and Performed by Lake Simons
Music by John Dyer
May 28 - June 1, 2025
PUPPETOPIA 2025
HERE (145 Sixth Avenue, NYC)
Yani Perez, M.F.A., is a poet, playwright, translator, and educator. Her plays have been presented in various theaters in the United States, such as La Mama and Yale University, as well as internationally in Bogotá, Colombia. She works at IATI Theater, one of the oldest Latinx theaters in NYC. She is currently working on translations of Latinx artists in hopes of introducing them to English-speaking audiences.
Comments