Standing at the edge of the ship, contemplating a watery demise, Billy is called back to reality when his dead mentor Sid Diamond appears as a handpuppet. Sid forces Billy to re-enact his life as a puppet show, rekindling the passion Billy once had for puppets, people, and the dream of a life that sparkles. For anyone stuck in the middle—mid-career, mid-love, mid-life—this requiem for a golden boy shines a little light on the wonder of youth meeting the wisdom of age.

Ronnie Burkett has been captivated by puppetry since the age of seven and began touring his shows around Alberta at the age of fourteen. Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes was formed in 1986, continuously playing on Canada’s major stages and as a guest company on numerous tours abroad. Ronnie has received the 2009 Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, the Herbert Whittaker Drama Bench Award for Outstanding Contribution to Canadian Theatre, a Village Voice OBIE Award, and four Citations of Excellence from the American Center of the Union Internationale de la Marionnette. In 2019, Ronnie Burkett was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada. Forget Me Not is the fourteenth production from Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes, following the international successes Penny Plain, Billy Twinkle, 10 Days on Earth, Provenance, and the Memory Dress Trilogy of Tinka’s New Dress, Street of Blood, and Happy. The Daisy Theatre, Ronnie’s wildly popular and ever-changing marionette vaudeville show, and the Daisy Christmas show, Little Dickens, continue touring to great acclaim. Ronnie lives in Toronto, and from his studio (known in puppetry circles as Puppetland) he continues to imagine and create new work.

Ronnie Burkett's profile page

"Burkett's creation is a detailed and intricate world that unfolds with almost cinematic vision. Echoes of Shakespearean tragedy resonate through the work, not only through the appropriation of the Bard's text but also through our hero's journey… smart, funny, adult contemporary theatre."

"A masterpiece. Billy Twinkle brings us a world-class master at the peak of his powers."