Ronnie Burkett plays a puppeteer whose late mentor visits him in the form of a hand puppet in Billy Twinkle: Requiem for a Golden Boy. (Epic Photography/Citadel Theatre)

Lethbridge, Alta.-born marionette artist Ronnie Burkett, who toured his puppet shows around Alberta as a teen and now mounts them internationally for adult audiences, has won the 2009 Siminovitch Prize.

The innovative designer and playwright receives $75,000 as well as $25,000 to give to a protegé of his choice. He has nominated Montreal puppeteer Clea Minaker, who has created shadow puppet plays for Feist concerts, to receive that honour.

The Siminovitch Prize recognizes accomplishments in design, direction and playwriting in three-year cycles, with this year's focus on design.

"I really didn't expect that the jury would take such a bold leap," he said. "It doesn't actually say 'puppeteer' in there anywhere, so I thought: 'Well, as great and as welcoming as the Canadian theatre community has been to me over the years, I'm a puppeteer, there's no way."

Burkett's works include Billy Twinkle: Requiem for a Golden Boy, which played Calgary and Edmonton and is now on stage in Sydney, Australia, as well as Provenance and 10 Days on Earth.

Burkett's work "challenges audiences and extends the way we see theatre," said theatre veteran Maureen Labonte, chair of this year's jury.

"As a designer, he takes risks and experiments while remaining profoundly human in the theatre he creates," she said.

Burkett was up against five other design finalists for the prize, which was created in 2001 in honour of scientist Lou Siminovitch and his late wife Elinore.

Burkett, 52, who now calls Toronto home, said he's not sure what he'll do with the prize money.

"I'm sure if nothing else, it will give me a little breathing room, which artists never have," said Burkett, who has mounted 13 shows under his company, Theatre of Marionettes, and is working on another.

Burkett said he developed a passion for marionettes at age seven, when he "opened the World Book Encyclopedia and it fell open to puppets."

"I looked at that two-page article and thought: 'Well, that's what I'll do for the rest of my life,' and then my mom called me for lunch and that's all I've ever been interested in, really," he said.

"It's a bit crazy, huh? The family joke was that they'd wished for years that it had fallen open to pediatrician or podiatrist, but no such luck."

The young Burkett had mentorships with puppeteer veterans and at age 14, took his marionette shows on the road.

"My dad would pack up the car with my stage and my gear and drive me around to those lucrative $50 gigs," he said with a laugh. "It's only since my dad passed away a year ago that I realized he probably lost a lot of money on gas and hotel rooms and things while I pocketed the $50 cheque, but that was the beginning of it."

Since then, Burkett has mounted marionette shows around the world, focusing on adult-oriented content.

"Puppetry is always thought of as for kids, and cute, little, soft, talking animals," he said. "And so I've spent the better part of two decades trying to wrest the form from that preconception."

The other 2009 Siminovitch finalists were:

• Bretta Gerecke of Edmonton.
• Anick Labissonniere of Montreal.
• Ken MacDonald of Vancouver and Toronto.
• Jean Bard and Richard Lacroix, both of Montreal.

Toronto playwright Daniel MacIvor won the prize last year.