Review by Tracy Gleeson
Collodi’s 1881 classic “Pinocchio” is so well-known, and has been done so often, that it is a real surprise to find a fresh take on it, but Joanna Carrick has done just that with her adaptation.
This production remains true to the original child friendly version, complete with “Italian” dialect and accents from the “new world”, and the Blue Fairy being the main caring figure in Pinocchio’s Life. Pinocchio himself, a living puppet with a cricket as his conscience, must prove himself worthy of becoming a real boy by overcoming naivety, disobedience and laziness.
Carrick has selectively taken the storyline from the original, thrown the sequence of mishaps up into the air and landed a neat production that fits nicely together.
Hence the core of the performance is the moral message. The production has a small cast of three (with a lot of backup) exhibiting their usual dexterity with multiple parts. It is wonderful to watch, both as entertainment and as an exercise in theatrical gymnastics for the artists.
The stage set (Katy Latham design and Vincent Moisy construction) was superb and the jokes about it very funny. Gepetto is so poor even the fire and bed are painted on the walls! Not to mention the ingenious morphing meal (no I’m not telling, you’ll have to go see it).
Like all good Christmas entertainment, repeat jokes are there in spades – my favourite being the singing tuna (aka tuner) fish.There is a magnificent fighting puppet scene, which can best be described as Punch and Judy meet Mario Bros.
There is sufficient menace and pantomime banter to satisfy pantomime traditionalists, but the performance never becomes formulaic, and the pantomime elements are seamlessly integrated into the overall comedy. Pinocchio’s hilarious and amazing adventures and trials were intended to illustrate the perils of a lack of moral fibre, aversion to work, rejection of responsibility and desire only to live for enjoyment and fun.
I wonder whether Carrick is commenting on the cracks in modern society?
Pinocchio played by Evangeline Dickson was brilliant. Dressed in the original illustrator Enzo Manzatti costume colours, she brought a zest to the role and an energy that visibly electrified the audience. A favourite for me was newcomer Liam Bull and his portrayal of Grillo the talking cricket with a great James Cagney accent.
Evangeline and Liam were both excellent as donkeys too – brilliantly coordinated and choreographed, and a fabulous seaside heads scene with Liam and Jack is not to be missed.
If you fancy getting into Christmas spirit or just getting away from the world with all the bad weather, talk of war and negative subject matter then as an antidote give yourself nearly two hours of heart-pumping, life-affirming, laughter, jovial groans and ridiculous song and dance routines that keep you buoyed up long after its ending.
Most early tickets have sold out but hurry for the rest.
