Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes: FORGET ME NOT

FORGET ME NOT is a new audience interactive production by Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes. Set in The New Now – a time when written language has been suppressed and forgotten – we find ourselves in the secret illegal camp of She, The Keeper of The Lost Hand. Aided by her confidant and fool, the mysterious showman Me, The Keeper reads and writes the illegal cursive love letters for the pilgrims who find her in a series of ceremonies. The tandem tale of Zacko Budaydos and His Dancing Bear illustrates the turmoil of The Before, when the little humpbacked itinerant performer relied on his wits, his love, and the underground language of Polari to survive. The audience are onstage during the entire performance, each given a one-of-a-kind handpuppet to portray their Other, becoming the mob, the ruling class, the oppressed, a puppet chorus both witnessing and propelling the story as it unfolds. FORGET ME NOT is a tender, absurd, romantic, provocative call-to-arms for poetry and hope, and a vital theatrical love letter for increasingly uncivilized times.