The Loony Bin

TICKETS – November 10, 2022: CLICK HERE

November 11 and 12 – SOLD OUT

Show in English

Ronnie Burkett’s The Loony Bin is an intimate “adults only” salon-style hand puppet show featuring a crazy cast of characters in an improvised mashup of scenes, songs and silliness. Set in a tattered puppet booth, the evening introduces us to leading lady Vealma Abattoir, once famous as the cow who jumped over the moon. She is joined by a company of faded players, her mysterious staff, and beloved characters from past Burkett shows including the wistful fairy Schnitzel, has-been actress Esmé Massengill, and beloved prairie matron Mrs. Edna Rural. The Loony Bin is Ronnie Burkett with “no strings attached”.

Running time: 75 minutes

Technique: Hand puppets

Adult audiences, 16 years +

Photos

Photo : Alejandro Santiago

Company

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 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.

The Loony Bin is Ronnie’s return to his first, touring hand puppet shows, when he was a teenager, created just for fun as a personal pandemic project.    

Credits

Puppets and Stage Design: Ronnie Burkett
Costumes: Kim Crossley
Studio Assistant: Alexander Mantia
Stage Construction: Christian Bellsmith
Stage Draperies: Sondra Richter
Special Thanks: Dina Meschkuleit, Andy Hayward, Joe Emory, Jeff Moss and Jesse Vail