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written and directed by Ronnie Burkett

Rink-a-Dink Inc., with Canadian Stage,

Berkeley Street Theatre Downstairs, Toronto

January 15-March 6, 2004

Provenance, the latest work by master marionetteer Ronnie Burkett, is also his most conventional.  The search for the origins of a work of art has already become a literary subgenre, A.S. Byatt’s Possession (1990) being a prime example.  In Provenance, dumpy Canadian ex-M.A. student Pity Beane has gone to Vienna to learn more about her favourite painting and finds herself in a high-class brothel run by an aged, mysterious woman named Leda.  The central painting entitled “Tender”, depicts a young man, nude except for women’s stockings, tied to a tree and threatened by a huge swan.  In her fantasies the unloved Pity considers this youth her “fiancé,” but Leda reveals the grim reality behind the image.  Art has transformed horror to beauty but beauty belongs to no one.

Unlike Burkett’s other shows where a collage of events suddenly coalesces into meaning, Provenance is more thesis-driven making many incidents, like the history of Leda’s past lives, seem more like digressions playing variations on the theme of possession and beauty than necessary steps in the plot.  The linking of painter, subject and art lover through physical abuse seems forced.

More fascinating than the story is the evolution of Burkett’s technique.  As usual marionettes are exquisite, Cathy Nosaty’s music dreamlike and Bill Williams’ lighting atmospheric. Burkett’s set of undulating wooden Art Nouveau cabinets is especially beautiful.  Yet this time Burkett as actor, singer and dancer, not marionetteer, is more prominent than before, speaking in his own voice and voicing characters even when they are put away.  He has expanded his craft beyond marionettes to include hand puppets and tabletop bunraku.  He even uses a puppet’s head attached to his own, his gestures serving as the character’s.  Burkett’s brilliant presentation raises the intriguing question, “How much can we separate the story-teller from the story?”

©Christopher Hoile

Note: A version of this review appeared in Eye Weekly 2004-01-22.

Photo: Ronnie Burkett with Leda. ©2004 Trudie Lee.