Laura Heit:
THE MATCHBOX SHOWS
Oct 9 + 10, 8pm
Automata is thrilled to welcome multidisciplinary artist LAURA HEIT back to Los Angeles with her world-renowned miniature tabletop performance The Matchbox Shows. Join us for this rare LA event as miniature raconteur and sequined pyromaniac Laura Heit performs teeny tiny puppet shows inside matchboxes.
As the lights dim, Heit walks on stage with a glass of wine, wearing a sequined top, and takes her place behind a table set with several matchboxes on it. She picks one up and begins to tell a story: a dead boyfriend, a sausage fairy, a tiger whisperer, a perfectionist, a bath-loving ghost, an art history teacher, and many others play their parts in these uncanny micro-plays.
The miniature stages inside matchboxes come to life with crankies, fire, tiny puppets, and pop-up paper engineering. A live camera captures the performance, which is then projected above the table: the little details of this portable variety show become larger than life.
The Matchbox Shows are a unique form of miniature cabaret tabletop toy theater, first developed and performed by Heit in 1999. Each performance of The Matchbox Shows features multiple tiny, odd stories and dreams, literally presented in matchboxes. Performed in venues from Portland to Paris, the repetoire of The Matchbox Shows continues to expand and evolve, featuring new stories alongside crowd favorites.
From the press:
“(Heit) deftly reveals the big emotions lurking within seemingly tiny details” —Joel Del Signore The Gothamist
“With childlike simplicity and arresting nonchalance, Heit offers 30-second vignettes that make Mr. Bill seem positively Rococo.” —-Justin Hayford Chicago Reader
To view a short video excerpt from The Matchbox Shows, click HERE.
About the Artist
LAURA HEIT likes little things. Her tiny portable cabaret “The Matchbox Shows” has been seen all over the world since 1999 including; The Chicago International Festival of Puppet Theater 2026, TBA Portland, REDCAT, Pompidou, Detroit Institute of Art, Disney Hall Los Angeles, Great Small Works 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 9th Annual Toy Theater festival at St. Ann’s Warehouse NYC, The Skirball Los Angeles, FIFMA Portugal, Stilltefestival Breda, UNIMA World Puppetry Festival San Sebastian Spain, International Poppentheater Festival, Dordrecht, Netherlands, The Jim Henson International Festival of Puppetry, Puppeteers of America Convention 2007.
Laura Heit’s Toy Theater film “The Amazing Mysterious and True Story of Mary Anning and her Monsters” was featured in the 5th Annual Great Small Works Toy Theater Festival as well as touring with Heather Henson’s Handmade Puppet Dreams. In addition to performing and directing puppetry, she is also a filmmaker and artist. Her book Animation Sketchbooks was published in 2013 by Thames and Hudson. Residencies have included MacDowell, Automata, Hackstack, Ucross, Caldera, VSC, and others.
Heit currently lives and works in Portland, Oregon. You can see more of her work at www.lauraheit.com or on Instagram here.