Billy Twinkle - Requiem for a Golden Boy at The Lowry 3rd to 8th April

Ronnie Burkett's Theatre of Marionettes explores what happens when a golden boy's life has lost its shine.

Billy Twinkle has it all. As the puppet master behind Stars In Miniature, he has his cruise ship audience eating out of his hands every night. And how could they fail to be charmed by burlesque marionette Rusty Knockers, or hold back their laughter as Biddy Bantam Brewster launches into her drunken aria? So what if Billy is bored of doing the same show day after day. It brings in the money. It's just a job, after all.

When Billy is fired, he suddenly realises he can't go on. Ready to face a watery demise, he is stopped by the appearance of Sid Diamond, his long-dead mentor, who appears to him as a glove puppet. Sid won't leave his side (quite literally) until Billy has re-enacted his life as a puppet show to discover where his passion for puppets and a life that sparkles has gone...

Join the world-renowned puppeteer Ronnie Burkett in this adult story of misplaced dreams, mid-career blues and hope refound.