Puppets Who Thrill

The last time I saw a singing monkey on roller-skates was in 1987 at which time I was most certain that the magic mushrooms I had ingested were indeed moving through my blood stream.  Having experienced that again in Ronnie Burkett's narratively rich and stunninglyelegant Provenance, now playing to a sold out run at CanStage's Berkeley Street Theatre, I had to nudge the person sitting next to me just to make sure she was seeing it too.

That's not to say that the man who has given us Tinka's New Dress, Street of Blood, and Happy has gone mad. It's merely a slice of offbeat fantasia that one can expect in the fourth installation from Canada's marionette maestro.   

In an age of liposuction, implants, nips, and tucks, Provenance is a glorious examination of the pursuit of beauty. Sardonically sweet and layered with imagery of deep impact, Ronnie Burkett uses the most refined brush strokes in his telling of the story behind the history of a painting.

What's stifling is the acroamatic connection between the man and his puppets. Not only in the minute movement of his creations but also in every character trait they emit. Burkett is the omniscient lifeforce yet the wooden beings take on remarkable lives of their own.

"Beautiful things mean nothing if all you do is dream of something more," laments Pitty Bean who finds herself in Vienna to view a painting that's dominated her young life.  It's this blend of cerebral delicacy that frames all of Ronnie Burkett's offerings and has again found itself in what has become his most powerful work to date.

The dialogue moves furiously fast and Burkett's ability to transform from character to character is an art unto itself.  There are moments he becomes so entranced in the raw emotion of the moment, you swear he's not coming back.  It's a grand achievement that few actors can pull off but it also works to the show's detriment when the story stream moves at such speed, you're sometimes unsure where you are, how you got there, of how you're getting back.

Make no mistake; Provenance is an exercise in evolution. This time around, Ronnie Burkett introduces crisp new performance techniques that enhance the genre. The marionettes used in the first 15 minutes of the play are stringless and later on he straps on a headband with a protruding puppet head lodged in front of him. These nuggets of innovation suggest Burkett is devoted to a craft he promises will have no limitations.

Provenance is a play of untouchable beauty that can’t be bought or sold. Ronnie Burkett’s canvass of optimism is a reminder that allurement is evanescent.

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