There are friendly clowns and scary clowns, puppets of the Sesame Street variety and those ominously operated by Kyle Loven. In his somber new one-man show Loss Machine, Loven says he’ll be performing behind a kind of box that represents a lost city—like a smaller stage analogue to Atlantis or Eldorado. He describes the enclosure as “a combination of a Rube Goldberg-esque machine and Louise Nevelson boxes. I refer to it as a structure, a series of openings or smaller viewing portals.” Through them, he’ll manipulate various puppets that convey more of a mood than a story. “The show is focusing on the emotional journey of loss,” he explains. “There isn’t a main character. It’s about multiple characters sharing a singe emotional arc.” Nor is there any dialogue in the roughly hour-long production. “It’s more non-verbal storytelling.” The city/box is meant to look old and decayed, as if made from unearthed artifacts, he says. “I do a lot of shopping in antique stores and Value Village and online. Some stuff I find in the street.” Unlike Loven’s past performances (including the Northwest New Works Festival), he says, “This is the first time that I’m stepping into the darkness and not being a live part of the show. My hand is a character; the idea is that I’m just a manipulator.” BRIAN MILLER

Dec. 5-10, 8 p.m., 2012