THE INFORMATION on `Tinka's New Dress'

What Is It?

In his London debut, multi award-winning Canadian performer Ronnie Burkett pulls the strings of and speaks the dialogue for some 37 exquisitely fashioned marionettes. Tinka's New Dress harks back to the tradition of underground shows put on by Czech puppeteers during the Nazi occupation of their homeland and the show forms part of the Barbican's Bite 99 season.

What They Say About It

"The `real' outer world of the play is painted with such a broad brush that you can't estimate the skill or otherwise of Carl's political puppeteering, while you can't help but feel the grating difference between the difficulty of performing satire in a climate of totalitarian repression and the ease and impunity with which Burkett can take pot shots at Blair here," Paul Taylor, The Independent.

"Witty, impressive and disarming... Leaving the politics aside, Burkett creates an enchanting world made risque by the occasional expletive and naughty gag ("don't f*** with a puppet: you'll only get splinters")," Patrick Marmion, Evening Standard.

"With his breakneck but impeccably timed delivery, this miniaturised show is every bit as epic as a full-scale play," Nigel Cliff, The Times.

Where You Can See It

Tinka's New Dress is at the Barbican, London EC2 (0171-638 8891) until Sat