the Arts Centre presents

in

BILLY TWINKLE

Requiem for a Golden Boy

Music by John Alcorn  Lighting Design by Kevin Humphrey

“Ronnie Burkett is one of the geniuses of the world… seeing his troupe every few years has become a necessity of civilized theatre-going.”

The Village Voice, New York

World renowned puppeteer Ronnie Burkett is returning to Melbourne with his long-awaited new production, Billy Twinkle - Requiem for a Golden Boy, playing for a strictly limited three week season at the Arts Centre, Fairfax Studio, from 3 September.    

Recognised as one of Canada’s foremost theatre artists, Ronnie Burkett has been credited with creating some of the world’s most elaborate and provocative puppetry. For over two decades, Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes has stimulated an unprecedented adult audience for puppet theatre with eleven unique productions which have played to critical acclaim across the globe.

 

 A master actor, storyteller, craftsman and technical artist, Ronnie Burkett’s theatre is simultaneously heart-breaking, outrageous and outrageously funny, as it seeks to illuminate the darkest corners of the human condition.  

 

Melbourne audiences fell under Ronnie Burkett’s spell during his two previous sold-out seasons at the Arts Centre as a guest of the Melbourne International Arts Festival. In 2002, Burkett presented to Melbourne Tinka’s New Dress, a fable for adults which explored the concept of propaganda versus truth, set in a world of underground puppet shows in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Two years later, Provenance examined the notions of beauty, self-loathing and fear as we followed the journey of an eccentric art historian obsessed with the painting of an androgynous boy.

 

 

Billy Twinkle – Requiem for a Golden Boy is an opportunity to experience an international theatre legend at the peak of his powers. More so than any of his previous works, this production probes deeply into the relationship between artists, their art and their lives.

   

Billy Twinkle is a middle-aged cruise ship puppeteer who dazzles audiences with his Stars in Miniature marionette nightclub act.  He is the best in the business and on top of the world, until he is fired. Contemplating a watery demise, Billy is called back to reality by the ghost of his dead mentor and is forced to re-enact his life as a puppet show in order to remember and rekindle the passions he once had.

 

 

As sole performer, manipulating a multitude of beautifully crafted marionettes and providing all the voices, in this new production Ronnie Burkett himself plays the middle-aged Billy. Audience members are either spellbound by Burkett’s unrivalled technical skills and craftsmanship, or are totally absorbed by the complex characters and stories he creates.

 

 

Co-commissioned by the Arts Centre, Billy Twinkle – Requiem for a Golden Boy had its world premiere in Edmonton, Canada in October 2008 and has subsequently enjoyed acclaimed seasons across Canada and at London’s Barbican Centre.

 

 

As with Ronnie Burkett’s previous productions, this Melbourne season is expected to sell out quickly. Tickets are on sale now.

 

 

"We need a show such as Burkett's to remind us that in the hands of a master puppeteer, old-fashioned string marionettes can make you laugh, weep - and even think."

The Guardian (London, UK)

 

“…a thing of beauty, carved out with love, compassion and humility.”

Vancouver Courier (Canada)

 

“A masterpiece.”

Edmonton Sun (Canada)

BILLY TWINKLE - Requiem for a Golden Boy

Dates:             3 – 20 September, 2009

Times:            Tuesday to Sunday 8pm

Please be seated by 7.45pm. No admittance after 8pm.

Venue:            the Arts Centre, Fairfax Studio

Tickets:          $65 - $40

Book Now:     theartscentre.com.au*, 1300 182 183* or at the Arts Centre Box Office
* Transaction fee applies

Intended for adult audiences. Not suitable for people under 15.

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