REVIEW: Billy Twinkle – Requiem for a Golden Boy

Let me start by saying that reviews aren’t my forte… I tend to only review the things that I really love, which leads to what seems like biased reviews. However, when I see theatre that I truly love I have a desire to tell others about it, which in itself is a review. In saying that, I didn’t love Billy Twinkle. However, I did say that I would write a review on it and it’s taken me a week and a half to process.

Billy Twinkle is the latest show from puppetry golden boy Ronnie Burkett. The man has made a name for himself throughout the past twenty years with his Theatre of the Marionette (you can read my gushing post on Ronnie Burkett here). Billy Twinkle follows Burkett’s 10 Days on Earth, which played the Sydney Opera House in mid 2007. 10 Days on Earth was a masterpiece. A tour de force of dramatic writing and performance. It actually seems unfair to compare anything else to this production.

I knew that Billy Twinkle wasn’t going to be as good as 10 Days on Earth, but I wanted to be wrong. Alas, I wasn’t.

Ronnie Burkett did an admirable job with Billy Twinkle, a semi-autobiographical piece about a puppeteer on a cruise ship who is about to throw himself overboard, when his mentor comes back as a hand puppet to force him to look back on his life. Billy then reenacts scenes from his life through his marionettes, starting from when he was a boy and introducing a slew of colourful characters.

Let’s get the criticism out of the way first…

The writing is good. Very good. The puppetry is amazing, as always. However, it’s the performer who lets the production down. Ronnie Burkett is not without his skill. As an actor he is an extremely talented man. He can embody characters in a heartbeat and make you cry one second and laugh the next. His portrayals are honest characterisations, and he doesn’t shy away from harder roles. However, I think the problem here is that he has given himself too much to do. Billy Twinkle only truly shines when Ronnie is above the action, manipulating his marionettes. When he is interacting with the hand puppet or doing his Billy routine, the magic just isn’t there for me.

The problem is I went in expecting genius. I left having seen a good production. Hasn’t turned me off Ronnie Burkett, but makes me realise that even a genius can’t be a genius ALL the time.