A puppet show with and for my Mother.
*Currently seeking a premiere presenter for the second half of 2026 and interested programmers for touring in 2026/27
In development throughout 2024/25, this interactive work blends a real-time craft group gathering with a puppet show that incorporates the crafts just made by the audience. Performed by my Mom and I.
Inspired by her real-world experience in a monthly craft group for 30+ years, Marlys, my Mom, gently guides audience members in making simple crafts. Between the cutting and gluing, stories are shared, worlds are imagined, and Marlys gets the farewell craft night she never had. Stitching through this communal crafting is a puppet show performed by me. Drawing from my 20 years of puppet- and theatre-making, the larger piece is a love letter to the joy of creating and the Mom who taught me how.
With this newest work, I hope to share the power of making by incorporating simple craft projects into the puppet show as set pieces, props, and puppets. This journey, from a craft made with my Mom to a theatrical stage element, allows audience members to experience both my Mom and I’s unique expressions of creating. It’s a show that’s only possible through the collective effort, and reminds us of the beauty that comes from community.
Part of The Table Trilogy
Design: Cory Loven
"I can honestly say I’ve never had a night like that at the theatre. Very magical." -Audience Member
To learn more about Me Love BINGO! as an ongoing theatrical project, click HERE
Created and Hosted by Kyle Loven with Leslie Dos Remedios, Jenna Klein, and Joey Lespérance | Written by Kyle Loven with contributions from Leslie Dos Remedios, Julie Hammond, Jenna Klein, and Joey Lespérance | Director: Kyle Loven | Dramaturg and Directorial Consultant: Julie Hammond | Set Design: Ted Roberts | Costume Design: Donnie Tejani | Lighting Design: Harika Xu | Sound Design: Mary Jane Coomber | Stage Manager: Devon Vecchio | Apprentice Stage Manager: Elyse Wall
This world premiere run of Me Love BINGO!: BEST IN SNOW was produced by and created with the generous team at the Arts Club Theatre Company in Vancouver, BC. Performances ran December 1, 2022 - January 1, 2023.
Photography: Moonrider Productions
“one-of-a-kind stage phenomenon” -The Georgia Straight
Begun in my living room in 2014, Me Love BINGO! is an ongoing theatrical project that uses the game of Bingo as both a show framework and narrative parallel to the game of life.
Each new installment, or episode, celebrates one of life’s more universal gatherings (think major holidays and world events): manifested through dollar store decorations, thematic costumes and a curated playlist. But beneath the camp aesthetic, I, as host, utilize the room of unprepared strangers to share my most intimate moments. The Olympics become a backdrop for the death of my Dad. A Scooby Doo-inspired Halloween gathering reveals my fears of failure to be the real monsters. I even got married at Me Love BINGO! (click on the second photo for our wedding lip sync).
Uniting all episodes is a performance vocabulary that blends pop culture references, autobiographical storytelling, classic tv game shows, clowning, drag, puppetry, and variety hour guest numbers.
Divided attention between stage and Bingo cards, combined with a series of “accidents” in the room, leave the audience questioning what’s real and what’s scripted. The end experience is immersive, reality-blurring, and at times discomforting, at times delightful.
The project has performed across the Pacific Northwest in bike repair shops, converted churches, community halls, major arts organizations, and returned to my living room for three live streamed episodes in 2020.
Created and Hosted by Kyle Loven with various collaborators and guest performers for each episode | Frequent collaboration with Dramaturg/Outside Eye: Julie Hammond | Performers: Amanda Sum, Jess Amy Shead
Part of The Table Trilogy
Photography: (first six) Wendy D Photography (seventh) Pride at the Gallery, August 2019, Photo by Scott Little, Courtesy of the Vancouver Art Gallery (final) Moonrider Productions
Inspired by natural history dioramas and sleep paralysis, this dance installation piece awakens mythical beasts from our nightmares in an exploration of the mind-body connection.
Using puppetry to generate choreography, movement comes from manipulating various human puppet death sequences and then removing the puppet. What’s left is the creature that exists in our dreams, the intangible made concrete. The end performance exploits the scientific certainty of natural history dioramas to ask a question from the fringes: could our dreams actually kill us?
Created by Kyle Loven in collaboration with | Sound Design: Paurl Walsh | Costume Design: Erik Andor | Lighting Design: Robert J. Aguilar | Performed by Kyle Loven with Amy Escobar
April at Dawn, Near Alta, Norway is the seed of a future project and performed at On the Boards' 2016 NW New Works Festival.
Photography: Bruce Clayton Tom
"By asking so much of us as viewers, Loven is really setting us free." -City Arts
Inspired by conspiracy theories and ham radio broadcasts, Retraces follows a skeptical man who works to decode the everyday conspiracies happening around him. Through a combination of projected miniature replicas, live sound, and scenic puppeteering, multiple performers construct his small town environments around him.
As the conspiracy unfolds, three manifestations of the man cross paths and overlap in a race to connect the dots. This dark piece blends theater, dance, puppetry, and sound to explore how we as humans and as audience members process information to arrive at our personal beliefs.
Conceived and Directed by Kyle Loven Created in Collaboration with | Associate Director: Antoinette Bianco | Live Music: Paurl Walsh | Lighting Design: Amiya Brown | Choreography: Ezra Dickinson | Video Design: Leo Mayberry | Costume Design: Pete Rush | Performed by Ezra Dickinson, Zane Exactly, John Leith, Paurl Walsh, Kaitlin Ziehr
Photography: (first four) Tim Summers (final) Tyler Korth
A ham sandwich. A ham radio. Using one to decode the other.
Created Collaboratively with Director: HATLO | Assistant Director: Antoinette Bianco | Sound Design: Paurl Walsh | Lighting Design: Amiya Brown | Video Design: Devin Ensz | Movement Assistance: Kate Wallich | Performed by Kyle Loven with Amiya Brown, Devin Ensz, and HATLO
This initial exploration for Retraces performed at On the Boards' 2014 NW New Works Festival.
Photography: Tim Summers
"...continues to push the boundaries of puppetry, taking a solid position in the notion of object-centered performance." -The Sunbreak
Inspired by cultural moon myths and beliefs from around the world, Moon Show 143 is a theatrical duet combining live and recorded sound, puppetry, and movement. Following the moon on its cyclical journey with Earth, the piece portrays four fateful encounters between humans and the moon to tell a story of connection and inevitability. Rock concert theatrics collide with interstellar imagery to form a new moon myth in this live performance.
Conceived by Kyle Loven Created in Collaboration with | Director: Nick Hubbard | Composer: Paurl Walsh | Lighting Design: Amiya Brown | Choreography: Kate Wallich | Performed by Kyle Loven and Paurl Walsh
This project was created in part by grants from the Jim Henson Foundation and 4Culture. Moon Show 143 premiered at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and toured to Seattle.
Photography: Tim Summers
"Loven borders on genius." –Times Square Chronicles
Everything is somewhere. Part miniature installation, part experimental puppet theatre, Loss Machine unearths a world of lost items, misplaced thoughts, and fractured journeys all housed within an intricately detailed set.
This intimate one-person show combines puppetry, objects, light, sound, and original music in a visual and sonic exploration of loss and discovery.
In a 7’ tall tower filled with life’s debris, a collection of characters move through an ever-changing assemblage of found and constructed objects. A lost city made up of lost things. With the “machine” further symbolizing the human body, the piece follows the process of loss and grief that impacts us all. Connected by a shared emotional journey, each scene picks up in the place where the last character left us. The resulting mosaic is poetic, fantastical, and leaves room for audiences to inject their own relationship to loss.
Originally performed in late 2012 through early 2014, Loss Machine is being remounted and available for touring with a decade more of both personal and global loss adding new layers of relevance.
Created and Performed by Kyle Loven | Created in Collaboration with Director: HATLO | Original Music: Paurl Walsh | Sound Design: Kevin Heard | Lighting Design: Amiya Brown | Dramaturg: Lauren Hester | Scenic Covers Design: Clare Strasser | Set/Prop Assistance: Rich Bresnahan, Bride Green, HATLO, Lauren Hester, Kristyne Hughes, Josh Russell, Sean Ryan, Clare Strasser, Ryan Wallace | Puppet Construction Assistance: Maggie Hillding, Nick Hubbard | Motor Mechanics: John DeShazo
Initial support of Loss Machine was provided by the Jim Henson Foundation and the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs. Loss Machine premiered at On the Boards through a Creative Residency, with tours to New York, Minneapolis, and Portland.
Watch Loss Machine at OntheBoards.tv Click HERE to watch the entire show!
Photography: Tim Summers
"...tells a horrific story so gently that you're too fascinated to be repelled." -Seattle Weekly
An Eastern moon myth warns children to "Never point at the moon or the moon will cut your ears". Dance, puppetry, and recorded sound effects combine in this cautionary tale for adults.
Created and Performed by Kyle Loven in collaboration with | Director: Nick Hubbard | Sound Design: Kevin Heard | Lighting Design: Amiya Brown | Choreography: Gabrielle Schutz
This initial exploration for Moon Show 143 performed in Taipei, Portland, and Seattle.
Photography: Tim Summers
"The small castaway objects are ... transformed from mundane into magic through Loven's extraordinary stagecraft."–Seattlest
Crandal is a sin-eater who collects the undesirable. Making it disappear is his craft. But when a surprising find shakes his routine, Crandal must prepare to conjure the impossible. Objects, shadows, puppets, and music combine in this actor-driven one-man magic show.
Created and Performed by Kyle Loven Original Music: George Maurer
This project was created in part by the generous support of 4Culture and Artist Trust. Crandal's Bag premiered at Washington Ensemble Theatre in Seattle.
Photography: Laurie Clark Photography
"A stunning piece of small-scale theater."–The Stranger
Innovative puppetry. Surreal visuals. The end of his world.
Lewis is at the end of his journey met with the task of looking back over a life lived. What unfolds is a pilgrimage made by his mind and body into the dark and dusty corners of memory. Puppetry, objects, video, and music unexpectedly combine in this one-man show.
Created and Performed by Kyle Loven | Original Music: George Maurer | Video Assistance: Andrea Steudel and Elise Langer
This project was created in part by the generous support of the Jim Henson Foundation. my dear Lewis has been seen in Amsterdam, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Vancouver, and other North American cities.
Photography: Tyler Korth and Lucas Saugen
The last episode of the last game show, hosted by the last man on Earth. A 50's camp look at the apocalypse.
Co-Created by Tessa Hulls and Kyle Loven for City Arts' Genre Bender 2016
Photography: Robert Wade
Puppet Design and Creation by Kyle Loven for Jasper in Deadland at The 5th Avenue Theatre | Director: Brandon Ivie
Photography: Matthew Murphy
A woman receives a magical letter that takes her on a fantastical journey to find a man she has never met. B is a visual combination of live actors, video and live shadow projections.
Conceived by Kyle Loven | Created in collaboration with Andrea Steudel and Elise Langer
Created in collaboration with Minneapolis Art on Wheels, this production originally performed on the Third Avenue Bridge underpass in Minneapolis, MN. B has since toured as an intimate tabletop projection piece to Taipei, New York, and as a film to Montreal.
Photography: Peter Thompson
