People tend to have misgivings about puppets and marionettes. Let’s face it: the only spotlight they receive is from grotesque horror movies and creepy kiddy puppet shows. So when Factory Theatre announced its new production Penny Plain, Ronnie Burkett’s Theatre of Marionettes new take on puppetry, it seemed only fitting that it open the 2012 season.
An apocalyptic tale foreshadowing our impending ecological disaster, Penny Plain is a darkly humorous play that explores the disintegration of our society and the end of the world as we know it. Ms. Penny Plain, an elderly lady with a penchant for biscuits, attempts to clutch at the last strings of civilization by running a boarding house that is inhabited by serial killers, senile mothers, and a curiously familiar puppeteer named Gepetto. When her faithful companion dog Geoffrey leaves to experience the world as a man, the disarray from the outside world begins to leak in, bringing with it peculiar personalities and horrific truths.
Burkett, the sole artist controlling dozens of marionettes, is unparalleled in his execution. Perhaps the most impressive part of this production was his ability to convincingly portray a range of characters simply with his voice. He breathes life into his marionettes, providing the audience with a privileged glimpse into this otherwise inaccessible world. Hugely imaginative, he manages to make us care deeply for the tottering little Ms. Penny Plain and sympathize with her attempts to cope with the changing world.
The witty banter presents a curious dynamic that evolves throughout the play, as Burkett’s marionettes represent human society. Physically emotionless, their wooden visages raise questions of just how far this parallel extends to the real world, and what the inevitable zenith of our environmental maltreatment will result in.
While conveying a rather sobering theme, Penny Plain offers a thought-provoking, ironically comical production that is not easily forgotten. It is a unique experience to be deeply moved by puppetry, and Ronnie Burkett entrances the audience from the start by presenting a vignette of the raw emotion that comes from the heartbreak of loving a world gone to the dogs.
