Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre
January 13, 2018

Aging divas, rambling grandmothers, a ventriloquist double act missing its ventriloquist, and Jesus are just some of the characters you’ll meet in Ronnie Burkett’s The Daisy Theatre. In a bawdy, acerbic puppet show that is ultimately very sweet, the Canadian Burkett voices and manipulates each and every one of his marionettes with astonishing skill and a slap dash improvisatory feel that’s thrilling and so right for Sydney Festival.

Schnitzel and Donald the orange bear. Photo © Prudence Upton. 

Providing the heart of this show is a little puppet by the name of Schnitzel, whose main desire is to attain a set of wings. Schnitzel is harangued and put down by a thoroughly enjoyable brute named Fritz, and together they plunge the audience into an examination of the foibles of the political left and right that somehow manages to avoid feeling tired. Burkett growls and whimpers and rasps with such abandon as his characters that you often forget he’s there – the spotlight is entirely on the puppets and many of the vignettes win you over to their flaws, quirks and theatrics. The audience cheered with real...