Ronnie Burkett's puppet plays are always a mix of funny and depressing, but this is the first dystopian play. The world is going to hell and so is everyone in it. The bad news starts right away with a newscast voice over that rings too true - the financial system is in chaos, the environment has been ruined, there is crime and poverty everywhere. No surprises.
Penny Plain is an elderly blind woman who is waiting for the end, not fearing it, just waiting. the other characters in her boarding house all react to the coming end in their own ways. Tuppence refuse to let her parents kill her, but becomes Penny's dog instead, replacing Geoffrey, the dog who has gone off to become a gentleman. All actions are in vain. The end is inevitable.
When the end of the play actually does come, it is sudden and surprising, probably because we are all still hoping for something better to happen. It doesn't.
This play again showed Burkett's brilliance as a maker and operator of marionettes. And also his depressed, and depressing world view.
ReplyDeleteIt's very good, but did not seem to have the fluidity of performance of, say, Billy Twinkle, and was less personal and so less involving.