Tthere is a competent talking cricket and an arch, blue-haired fairy, and there are many topical references to the news and songs. In other words, it’s Pinocchio as panto for youngsters, starting with the excitement of the audience before the young hero (Dylan Collymore) is hammered out of a tree by the poor carpenter Geppetto (Toque Moraquinho).
The script goes through – and simplifies – the many twists and turns of the plot, from Pinocchio’s encounter with a menacing puppeteer and his scrapes with the devious Sly Fox (Rushand Chambers) and Miss Kat (Janaika Van Mook), to his time in the doghouse, then in the belly of a shark, etc.
Crick Crack the Cricket (Nicole Louise Lewis) and the Blue Water Fairy (Michael Burtenshaw) are part of the drama, but step outside it, for fun and games, to speak directly to the audience. “When I say ‘Crack,’ you say ‘Crack,'” says Crick Crack, and we do it in a rap-like rhythm.
There are some nice innovations, including a sweet scene leading up to Pinocchio’s birth and a surprise twist in the figure of the aging Blue Rins Fairy, who talks about brain fog and is not all that she seems. But the phony wooden doll’s quest to become human is, frankly, too much like childish entertainment to have cross-generational appeal.
Under Omar F Okai’s direction, deviations in audience participation feel like pauses, slowing down the flow of the story, especially in the first half. Trish Cook’s script is clear, simple and pointedly basic, with instructive lessons for children, moral or otherwise, pointed out and summarized repeatedly.
The long incidental sound and glowing set of Stuart J. Charlesworth, with its riot of colors, sometimes resembles an arcade game – and instead of placing his five gold coins, Pinocchio even loses them in a slot machine. However, the production wins with its songs, which quickly captivate. Music by Robert Hyman and lyrics by Hyman and Cook consist of a rich mix of reggae, soda, disco, soul and funk. Collymore’s Pinocchio is a mischievous charmer who pulls off some good moves and sings his heart out. The rest of the cast is just as energetic. While it may not catch on with adults as much as it does with kids, it exudes festive warmth.