Puppeteers, musicians, and educators, Tangle and Tyler McClaron make puppet magic in the Bow Valley and beyond through their theatre troupe called Entangled Puppetry. Born on a beach in Victoria, B.C. in 2010, with puppets made from dumpster dive finds and driftwood, Entangled Puppetry has grown to include music, workshops, and custom sewing to its original homegrown live radical theatre roots. They’re known for their performances at artsPlace, the Banff Public Library, and at the Canmore Folk Music Festival to name a few appearances, as well as helping to host prop-making workshops in collaboration with Pine Tree Players.
Lately their favourite show is Hullabaloo, a mix of music and puppet variety performance, with interactive songs and audience involvement (they look at each other when asked how to spell it – “I think two ‘L’s and two ‘O’s” guesses Tyler, to which Tangle looks down at their 10-month-old named Fable sitting in her lap and says, “Loo!”). They debuted it at the Canmore Folk Music Festival on the family stage and recently performed it to a sold-out audience at artsPlace.
“Bringing groups together to do something joyful like singing is building community cohesion,” says Tyler. “When you’ve got babies and grandparents singing along together, it’s really uplifting and it’s an example of coming together to do something better than we could have done on our own.”
Tangle agrees and adds that music and magic are such important elements for children growing up in a digital era. (Their three-year-old named Captain likes to jump on things as pretend stages and declare that “the show is starting!”)
“This generation defaults to technology and many have never known a world without it. Hullabaloo is an opportunity to see live theatre, music, and puppetry which creates a rich opportunity to engage with the arts as well as begins a lifelong appreciation of the arts. Watching a live show is different than watching a show on TV.”
Having met during a summer working for Parks Canada’s Mountain World Heritage Interpretive Theatre (WIT) in 2011, Tangle and Tyler feel lucky that they are able to share a stage and a life together as Entangled Puppetry.
“It’s extremely fun and we have really good onstage chemistry. It’s lovely to be able to share that deep passion with your partner,” says Tangle. “It can also be challenging because you’re working with your partner and there’s all that other stuff – dishes, kids – which can make it complex.” Tyler pipes in with a quick quip, “you were very diplomatic.”
While they continue to maneuver magic and music with kids in their condo in Canmore (with puppets hung downstairs on racks where bikes have traditionally been stored), the McClarons say they stand on the shoulders of giants and are able to carve a niche out in the performance community because of the work of those before their time in the valley as well as institutions like artsPlace.
“artsPlace has been a springboard for us, a springboard for art, and a springboard for the creative community,” says Tyler. “There’s a real willingness to try new things and to take chances. It’s meant the world to us to have a hub to tap into.”
