Ronnie Burkett's LITTLE WILLY Comes to Canadian Stage
Puppeteer Ronnie Burkett brings his adults-only production back to the stage.
By: Stephi Wild Jan. 09, 2026
Canadian Stage will welcome back world renowned puppeteer Ronnie Burkett and his beautifully bawdy Daisy Theatre gang back to the city for a side-splittingly hilarious, improvised mash-up of Romeo and Juliet, LITTLE WILLY.
Last at the Berkeley Street Theatre in 2022 with the sold-out run of another Daisy Theatre cabaret, LITTLE DICKENS, Burkett and his irreverent army of marionettes now return for the Toronto premiere of their endlessly sassy take on Shakespeare's beloved romantic tragedy, on stage February 27th to April 5th.
A singular artist who has achieved international success with a legacy of productions including Penny Plain, Billy Twinkle, 10 Days on Earth, Provenance and the “Memory Dress Trilogy” of Tinka's New Dress, Street of Blood and Happ y–all of which ran at Canadian Stage in Toronto– Burkett's relationship with the organization dates back over 30 years.
“We are always delighted to have Ronnie Burkett back at Canadian Stage, where he has presented so much of his astonishing work over the years,” says Canadian Stage Artistic Director Brendan Healy. “Ronnie truly is one of our country's most innovative and singular talents –his work is this rare and delightful marriage of artistic excellence, narrative depth, and total whimsy. At a time of year when the shorter days are starting to take their toll, a Ronnie Burkett/Daisy Theatre show is the surest guarantee of rolling-on-the-floor laughter I can think of.”
An 'adults only' re-imagining of the Bard, reserved for audiences over sixteen, Burlesque star Dolly Wiggler gets LITTLE WILLY underway with an Elizabethan striptease. All the leading ladies of the Daisy ensemble then battle for the role of Juliet, including faded diva Esme Massengill in a boozy interpretation of the lovesick ingénue. Audience favourites Schnitzel and Mrs. Edna Rural are back in supporting roles, and adding to the fun and mayhem, The Bard himself joins The Daisy Theatre cast for a twisted retelling of this tragic romance – with strings attached.
LITTLE WILLY first premiered at Vancouver's The Cultch in 2023, a decade after Burkett first debuted the improvised cabaret show The Daisy Theatre in 2013 at Toronto's Luminato Festival. Featuring a cast of over 40 marionette characters, The Daisy Theatre is Burkett unleashed and unscripted with the artist manipulating and voicing his characters through variety acts, impromptu monologues, musical numbers, and audience participation.
Recognized as one of Canada's foremost theatre artists, Ronnie Burkett has been credited with reinventing the art of puppetry. He discovered puppetry at the age of seven and began touring his own shows around Alberta at 14. Burkett eventually apprenticed in New York with Bil Baird, who famously produced and performed “The Lonely Goatherd” puppetry scene in the movie The Sound of Music. Burkett went on to form his own company, Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes in 1986. Provocative, topical, compassionate and entertaining, his work has revitalized puppet theatre, consistently attracting adult audiences who are enthralled by the colourful characters populating his miniature world of big ideas. His productions have been commissioned and presented by major theatres and festivals and have earned critical and public acclaim across Canada and around the world. Burkett is an Officer of the Order of Canada and the recipient of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Award, the Herbert Whittaker Drama Bench Award for Outstanding Contribution to Canadian Theatre, two Chalmers Canadian Play Awards, the Siminovitch Prize (Design), and a recent Governor General's Lifetime Achievement Award.
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