"I am a Firm Believer in the Need for a Beautiful Cry and a Hearty Belly Laugh" Lose Your Heart to Playwright and Master Puppeteer Ronnie Burkett

Dora Award-nominated playwright Ronnie Burkett is an internationally renowned master puppeteer, known for his ability to create puppet characters for the stage who seem to come truly alive. 

His latest play, Forget Me Not (forthcoming from Playwrights Canada Press in February 2021, available for pre-order now) takes audiences to a world where writing is not only forbidden but has been nearly forgotten. Only the mysterious "She" can help those who want to have their love letters recorded. To reach She, travellers have to strike out on a dangerous journey to her illegal, remote camp. Along the way, Burkett weaves in a related story of Zako Budaydos, who shares tales about "The Before". 

Darkly funny and utterly heartbreaking, Forget Me Not is a furtively written love letter to, well, love letters - and all they represent with their honesty, passion, and bravery.

It's an utterly creative, winning meditation on both love and the power of writing itself, and we are thrilled to welcome Ronnie to Open Book today so our readers can get to know him better. We challenged him to take part in our Dirty Dozen series, where writers are asked to share 12 unexpected facts about themselves. 

He tells us about finding the joy in touring shows for nearly 50 years, makes us want to come share his Christmas dinner leftovers, and reminds us of the therapeutic value of both a good belly laugh and a good honest cry. 

The Dirty Dozen with Ronnie Burkett

1. I could eat Chinese take out every single day. Chinese food and theatre people are essentially spouses, because in many cities, it’s all that’s available when you leave the theatre. Plus, when I was a little boy, I had a date with my Mum on Friday nights; the library, a movie, and dinner at The Pink Lantern Café (“home of Chinese and Canadian cuisine”, which is as prairie as it gets).

2. I probably make the best fried chicken on the planet. It’s been a long road of experimentation: I’ve brined, I’ve buttermilk soaked, I’ve marinated in hot sauce, but my go to is a dry spice rub overnight. And don’t get me started on my potato salad and cornbread…

3. I have 1600 books on puppetry in my studio. They’re my old pals, my source of information and inspiration, and a reason for young puppeteers to come visit me. That, and the fried chicken. 

4. I’ve been touring my shows for close to 50 years now. And I still love a good hotel room. A stack of clean white towels will forever make me swoon.

5. I am a Ronnie through and through. There are five people on the planet who can get away with calling me Ron, and only one who I will suffer calling me Ronald (which actually isn’t my name). My dad called me Sonny Jim, which I sometimes miss terribly.

6. I quit university at the age of 18 and went to an international puppet congress in Moscow instead. That’s where I met Bil Baird (who made the puppets for The Lonely Goatherd in The Sound of Music), who hired me to work at his theatre in New York City on my 19^th birthday.

7. Hanging above the mop and broom in my studio is a framed original lobby card from The Sound of Music signed by Julie Andrews after she saw one of my shows.

8. I’m fairly sure I speak fluent dog. 

9. I talk to my dead mentors constantly. And if I’m alone in the studio, aloud. And yes, they talk back. Sometimes I can’t shut them up, but I’m never alone.

10. I wouldn’t say I’m a foodie, rather, I’m a guy who loves making dinner. I’ve taught myself all sorts of fancy things, but for pure comfort, a Turkey Shepard’s Pie from Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner leftovers is a bit of heaven. Pro tip: smoosh the stuffing in the bottom of a buttered casserole dish for the crust.

11. I am a firm believer in the need for, and the mental health benefits of, a beautiful cry and a hearty belly laugh every day, just to check in on the extremes. I let my angels and demons out of their playpens each morning, and try to tuck them back in at night so we’re all rested to laugh and cry on the next glorious day when I might finally figure it all out.

12. I don’t keep scrapbooks, but I have a big box of handwritten cards and notes sent backstage by audience members over the years. They’re my version of a secret stash of love letters. Perhaps someday, someone will sit on the floor and read them all, and understand why I kept leaving home.

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Ronnie Burkett has been captivated by puppetry since the age of seven, and began touring his shows around Alberta at 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 receive 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. He is based in Toronto.