EVOLVE PUPPETS has been creating innovative puppet theatre in NYC for almost three decades. In November 2023, Co-Artistic Directors Tanya Khordoc and Barry Weil were invited to present developmental performances of their latest puppetry/theatre/multimedia play, They Were Called Trees, at La MaMa. Their previous full-length play, Home, was presented at the Tank NYC in 2019. Home received a Jim Henson Foundation Grant, and was part of Jane Henson's Puppetry at the Carriage House program. Evolve's puppet creations for Bated Breath Theatre Company's Chasing Andy Warhol -- including a 10-foot-tall fully walking and moving incarnation of the celebrated pop artist -- became popular tourist attractions on the streets of downtown NYC in 2022. In 2023, the giant Andy puppet (with Tanya & Barry) was invited to walk alongside Grand Marshal Laurie Anderson in NYC's famed Greenwich Village Halloween Parade. Evolve served as puppetry designers and associate producers for Theater East’s production of Devil and the Deep, a musical co-written by multi-platinum recording artist Graham Russell of Air Supply. They created puppets and models for UTC61’s adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s Cat’s Cradle, and their dog and kite puppets were featured in Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble's world premiere production of the opera Princess Maleine at La MaMa. During the pandemic years, Tanya & Barry pivoted to creating several short puppet films, including the award-winning Light as Paper (an Official Selection at the Vienna International Film Awards, Canada's Festival of Animated Objects and the Coney Island Film Festival), as well as Once Upon a Plastic Forest (presented by La MaMa Kids Online). Way back in 2006, Evolve created the world premiere production of former Czech President Vàclav Havel’s play Motormorphosis for UTC61’s Havel Festival at the Ohio Theater, where they were visited backstage by President Havel himself. Evolve has also performed many original works (written, designed and directed by Tanya & Barry) that include Secrets History Remembers (at The Brick and Great Small Works’ 10th Annual Toy Theater Festival at St. Ann’s Warehouse), The Most Radiant Beauty: An Einsteinian Collage (at Theater 3), Becoming (at La MaMa), Evolution: A Tale of Friendship (at La MaMa and the Lincoln Center American Living Room Festival at HERE), Mercy (at St. Ann's Warehouse), The Wizard of Ounces (written by Edward Einhorn; at La MaMa, HERE and Vermont's historic Latchis Theatre), and more. Currently, Tanya & Barry are designing and creating puppets for Exagoge, UTC61's immersive opera/play at La MaMa, and continuing development on their play They Were Called Trees.

TANYA KHORDOC (Co-Artistic Director) (she/her) has performed, designed, built and directed puppet theater at venues such as HERE, St. Ann’s Warehouse, the Puppeteers of America National Festival, the Eugene O’Neill National Puppetry Conference, and the Children's Museum of Manhattan. She has worked with UTC61 in the 24/7 Festival and on Unauthorized Magic in Oz, and directed, designed and performed Edward Einhorn's one-woman show about synesthesia, The Taste of Blue. She collaborated with Obie and Lucille Lortel winner Jared Mezzocchi (Vietgone) on stop-motion animation sequences for the NYC premiere of Robert Lawson's Hiroshima: Crucible of Light. Tanya also performed and voiced the character of "Phoenix" on the children’s web series Rosie’s Place, and is the creator of the upcoming children's show Meow Meow & Friends. She is the current Vice President of the Puppetry Guild of Greater New York, and serves on the board of the League of Professional Theatre Women.

BARRY WEIL (Co-Artistic Director) (he/him) is an actor, playwright, director, filmmaker and graphic designer in addition to his work as a puppeteer and character creator. He has created puppets and masks for many NYC theatre productions, including Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, The Steampunk Haunted House, Funny as a Crutch, Hope & Anchor, Unauthorized Magic in Oz, Screaming Shrubbery, Uktena, The Dance of the Praying Mantis and Feast of the Dead. He has constructed (and occasionally inhabited) the man-eating plant "Audrey II" for multiple productions of the musical Little Shop of Horrors, and played the role of Frank Hoenniker / Puppeteer in UTC61's adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s Cat's Cradle at Soho's Walkerspace. In addition, Barry is director of Levels, Long Island's acclaimed cultural center for teenagers.