Rubicon Studios

10/20/2026

Rubicon Studios is seeking actors/movers/puppeteers for THIS MAD RIVER, a live, full-length puppet production. The role may involve puppetry, movement, mask work, and acting, as well as participating in scenic changes and transitions throughout the production.

This production will premiere in Boise in February and then travel to Chicago for a run in March/April. Travel and housing will be provided for Chicago. You will still be considered if you’re only available for the Boise run.

Show Description: THIS MAD RIVER is a full-length puppet play set on the Snake River during the era of temperance and Prohibition. Reimagining Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick through the lens of Idaho history and frontier lore, the work follows bootleggers smuggling wh***ey from Taylor’s Crossing through the Seven Devils and into Hells Canyon. Driven by obsession, guilt, and unraveling faith, their journey takes mythic shape in a leviathan that becomes the embodiment of destruction. Set against the vast landscape of the Mountain West, the piece explores the perilous edge between devotion and madness.

Time Commitment:
January 5: Company Orientation, Design Presentations, Table Read
January 6 - 29: Rehearsals (Tuesdays - Sundays, likely 5:30p - 10p)
January 15: Reading Event at JUMP
January 30 - February 3: Tech
Feb 4-14: Performances
March 18-24: Chicago Tech
March 25-April 4: Chicago Performances

Stipend:
$1,000 Boise Leg
$500 Chicago Leg

Sign up:
https://forms.gle/sroABdET9mZDxu8w7

10/18/2026

What a wonderful week! ❤️

A big thank you to for featuring Rubicon Studios and for all the work you do to support and connect the puppetry community!

Want to connect with the puppetry community and have your company featured too? Join UNIMA-USA!

We hope you’ll continue following along as we bring THIS MAD RIVER to life.

See you on the river! 🌊

10/14/2026

Want to learn more about puppetry and connect with the puppetry community? Check out the Puppetry Yellow Pages at unima-usa.org!

And a big thanks to UNIMA-USA for featuring Rubicon Studios this week! ❤️

10/12/2026

So honored to be UNIMA-USA’s featured company this week. We are grateful to be counted among the artists they prop up and support nationally and internationally!

Let’s give a hand to this week’s Member Monday feature: Rubicon Studios! Led by sisters and Co Artistic Directors Jaime and Jessica Nebeker, Rubicon Studios creates contemporary puppetry for stage and screen that invites the impossible. Based in Boise, Idaho, and Chicago, Illinois, the company develops original work through puppetry, movement, design, and original music, combining visual storytelling, physical performance, and immersive sound to create theatrical experiences rooted in imagination, scale, and transformation. Jessica is a puppeteer, puppet and mask maker, and designer whose work spans theatre, dance, and film, while Jaime is an actor, puppeteer, director, choreographer, and movement artist with a focus on physical storytelling. Their upcoming production, THIS MAD RIVER, reimagines Herman Melville’s Moby Dick through Idaho history and frontier lore, following bootleggers traveling through the Seven Devils and into Hells Canyon during the era of temperance and Prohibition. Featuring large scale Bunraku style puppets, shadow puppetry, and original music, the production will premiere in Boise in February 2027, followed by performances at Lifeline Theatre in Chicago in March and April. We thank Rubicon Studios for their imaginative storytelling, craftsmanship, and dedication to bringing contemporary puppetry to new audiences, and for being a valued member of UNIMA-USA!

10/12/2026

Thank you to UNIMA-USA for featuring Rubicon Studios as your featured company this week. It’s such an honor to be among UNIMA’s artists. Thank you for the work you do to to promote and support puppeteers nationally and internationally!

10/08/2026

🎬 So excited that THOSE BENEATH THE GROUND will be part of Handmade Puppet Dreams 48 hr Halloween Puppet Film Project screening tonight Bob Baker Marionette Theater!

📝short film by Alan Heathcock
🎬Directed by Jessica Nebeker
📸Director of photography Lila Streicher
💡Lighting and edited by Chaz Gentry
🎵Original Score Anthony MulParry
🔨Set by Amber Ellis
💀 Puppeteered by Jaime Nebeker
and Rachel Fitchman
👕Costumes and best Mom Lori Nebeker Stewart

10/07/2026

Sneak peak from inside The Mine by Chaz Gentry As we continue fundraising to bring THIS MAD RIVER to life, company member, Technical Director, and Lighting Designer extraordinaire, Chaz Gentry has generously donated 70 copies of his comic, The Mine.
All proceeds go directly to bringing THIS MAD RIVER to life.
Pick up a copy online (link in bio) or locally at Visual Arts Collective or LED at The Dixon.

10/06/2026

Sneak peak from inside The Mine by Chaz Gentry As we continue fundraising to bring THIS MAD RIVER to life, company member, Technical Director, and Lighting Designer extraordinaire, Chaz Gentry has generously donated 70 copies of his comic, The Mine.
All proceeds go directly to bringing THIS MAD RIVER to life.
Pick up a copy online (link in bio) or locally at Visual Arts Collective or LED at The Dixon.

10/05/2026

As we continue fundraising to bring THIS MAD RIVER to life, company member, Technical Director, and Lighting Designer extraordinaire, Chaz Gentry has generously donated 70 copies of his comic, The Mine.
All proceeds go directly to bringing THIS MAD RIVER to life.
Pick up a copy online (link in bio) or locally at Visual Arts Collective or LED at The Dixon.

10/04/2026

The beginnings of *THIS MAD RIVER*.

From early sketches and designs to technical drawings and the first stages of bringing these puppets to life.

We’ve been incredibly lucky to have access to Jack's Urban Meeting Place (JUMP) MAKE Studio throughout this process. If you’re in Boise and have a project you’ve been dreaming about making, check out JUMP’s Community Project Program!

You can also check out Jessica’s blog on CAD design and 3D printing at the MAKE Studio to learn more about the process behind *THIS MAD RIVER*.

We’re still fundraising to bring *THIS MAD RIVER* to life! If you’d like to support the show and the artists making it, please consider donating. Link in bio. ❤️

🎵 Music: Anthony MulParry
👐 Puppeteer: Chad Ethan Shohet
👐 Puppeteer: Ashley Townend
👐 Puppeteer: Rachel Fichtman
🎥 Lighting & Videography: Chaz Gentry