A ballroom extravaganza, a parade of a half century of popular music and alternative love-making.

Seven actors of the Lutkovno gledališče Ljubljana ensemble, three young musicians and tenor Augusto Valença, worked for two months on the subject of forbidden fantasies about puppets. The idea, concept and the direction are Duda Paiva's, who was asked to create a new adult piece for the theatre in Ljubljana.

The result is a secret world supervised by a mysterious singing host, where people are manipulating their fantasies about love into unreality. A projection of hidden desires, until one day the light of reality destroys the illusion.

Love Dolls  premiered in 2009 on the 15th of September in Ljubjana
Now on tour in Holland
16 + 17 +18.02 Stadsschouwburg Utrecht 20:30 hrs
19 + 20.02 KORZO5HOOG Den Haag 20:30 hrs
24 + 25.02 Pop Arts Festival/Theater Bellevue Amsterdam 20:30 hrs

team of the Love Dolls Ljubjana
concept, choreography, end direction Duda Paiva
dramaturgy Jaka Ivanc
advice Paul Selwyn Norton
music settings Allan Segall
music coordination, singer Augusto Valenca
light design, video Hans C. Boer, Mark Verhoef
décor Andre Mello, Hans C. Boer
puppet design Duda Paiva
costumes Javier Murugarren
performers  Miha Arh, Polonca Kores, Maja Kunšič, Iztok Lužar, Asja Kahrimanović, Martina Maurič Lazar , Nina Skrbinšek / Augusto Valença
musicians Urša Pavlovčič [cello], Rok Felicjan [clarinet],  Marko Jurečič [percussion]
décor, puppets and costumes are made by the ateliers of the Lutkovno gledališče Ljubljana

A collaboration project with the Lutkovno Gledališče Ljubljana [SL], Laswerk

quote
‘Love Dolls is a superlative in its effective, perfected and witty use of the actor and animator material‘ Magazin dela in Slovenskih novice

about the LGL
The Ljubljana Puppet Theatre [Lutkovno Gledališče Ljubljana] was founded in 1948. It fuelled its creative inspiration on various traditions that had marked Slovene puppetry from its beginning in 1910’s to the end of World War Two. The theatre soon perfected its expressive power in 1950’s, and could be equalled to other, important European puppet theatres.  Recently, there was a generation switch, both in the artist management and in the puppeteer company, which opened new horizons for the theatre. So the theatre was on a new drive in the last few seasons, and this was attested by an abundant collection of festival awards.