TIED UP WITH WONDERFUL JOE, THE PUPPET
WONDERFUL JOE HAS MANY STRINGS ATTACHED by Stephen Weir In these turbulent times of 2024, leave it to the puppets to show us how hard life can be for penniless seniors living downtown, as they're displaced from a soon-to-be-demolished rundown apartment building to make way for a high-rent tower. You almost don’t notice the strings when "Wonderful Joe," a weary, weathered senior, takes the stage at the Jane Mallet Theatre in downtown Toronto. With his wrinkled face, stooped back, and clothes likely scavenged from dumpster dives, Joe is the star of a one-act play that will run for the next month in the city. Wonderful Joe is written and performed by longtime puppeteer Ronnie Burkett. The cast of marionettes includes a community butcher, a nasty landlord, Mister the dog, and even Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and Jesus Christ. “The play tells the story of an elderly gay man living in a fifth-floor walk-up in an urban centre,” says Burkett, considered one of Canada’s top p