Lei-Lei Bavoil is a theater maker from New York, working between Europe and the United States as an actor, puppeteer, mask player, designer, and builder. Specializing in devised theater, her work focuses on creating new pieces, building plays from the rehearsal room, from the ensemble, as well as from the objects themselves.
After receiving her BFA in Acting from SUNY Purchase and working as an actor in New York, she moved to Paris to study physical theater at École Jacques Lecoq, completing the 2 year course in 2020. Since then, she has had theatrical collaborations with companies in France, Germany, Belgium, Norway, and Switzerland. She also began creating theater objects for the companies she was performing with, as well as for her original work. These objects include puppets, masks, props, and scenography.
She currently collaborates with the renowned Berlin-based mask company, Familie Flöz, the eccentric Oslo-based puppetry company, Wakka Wakka Productions, and is a founding member of the Paris-based physical theater company, SITIO. She has performed at the Opéra de Paris, Theater Basel, 59E59 Theaters, the Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes in Charleville-Mézières, and the Stamsund International Theater Festival, to name a few. Between tours, she continues to develop her original work as a puppet and mask designer, builder, and performer. In the spring of 2024, she will return to her alma-mater, SUNY Purchase, to teach mask and Lecoq in the BFA Acting Conservatory.