PINOCCHIO. To 13 January.
Northampton
PINOCCHIO
by Carlo Collodi by Lu Kemp and Rob Evans written by Rob Evans
Royal Theatre To 13 January 2007
10.15am 4 Jan
2.15pm 27-30 Dec, 4-6, 11, 13 Jan
7pm 27-30 Dec, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8-13 Jan
Runs 2hr 15min One interval
Tickets: 01604 624811
www.royalandderngate.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 13 December
Adventurous show with some good ingredients hasn’t caught an appropriate style.
Before it closed for reconstruction, Northampton’s Royal Theatre presented a trio of pantomimes which moved towards redefining the form. Now back in business the Royal moves from panto altogether, joining theatres nationwide that are retelling traditional stories without panto paraphernalia, seeking a deeper level of imaginative participation within young audiences.
This means overcoming panto expectations though, and this Pinocchio isn’t the only show this Christmas where school parties have started clapping-along the moment a musical chord is struck. Though all but the most persistent are confounded when songs don’t have the expected rhythms or, as here, turn out quite short.
Lu Kemp and Rob Evans’ version starts well, with lonely Gepetto, whose puppet-shop’s doing little business, being given a present from a woman neighbour who (even if it isn’t a pantomime) we know he’s eventually going to realise loves him and end up marrying. His creation of Pinocchio’s represented by the sudden emergence of Lucien MacDougall who appropriates the puppet, giving him at once wooden and human identity. If Gepetto’s neighbour wants a husband, Pinocchio wants a father. Suddenly, Gepetto’s in demand.
This invention of the puppet-boy and his desire to become human, along with Gepetto’s loneliness, is the best part of this production. There’s a strong transition too from the near-empty shop to the liveliness of the street. And the adapters seek to give some consistency to what is a series of separate stories by, for instance, introducing the wayward Lampwick early on as one of a school group.
There’s a fine visual moment later, when a billowing cloth takes the adventure to sea. But overall the storytelling lacks the consistency of style needed to give it full theatrical life. Projected sequences frame the action; that at the end should surely come before the performance seems finished; pleasant as it is to see little Pinocchio making his own way home, it lacks momentum once the clapping’s over and done with.
And a whole generation of Northants youngsters risk growing up with a misunderstanding of the name ‘Pinocchio’. It means ‘pine-eyes’, not pine that’s been knocked on as suggested here.
Gepetto: Dominic Burdess
Cat: Giulia Innocenti
Cricket/Narrator: Dafydd Huw James
Maria/Lampwick: Claire Knight
Fox: Ben Lewis
Pinocchio: Lucien MacDougall
Florenzini: Christopher Staines
Girl: Frankie Dean
Director: Lu Kemp
Designer: Ben Stones
Lighting: Chahine Yavroyan
Sound: Gareth Fry
Composer/Musical Director: Dafydd Huw James
Choreographer: Nick Winston
Projection Designer: Andrzej Goulding
Puppets: Shona Reppe
2006-12-27 11:08:17