Puppet’s tale pulls all the right strings for over-the-top family fun
You know your comedy is working when the audience laughs at exactly the right spot, less than 20 seconds into the play. That’s what happened Thursday night at the world premiere of Harry Standjofski’s stage adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s cautionary tale Pinocchio.
The season-closer for Geordie Productions is at Centaur Theatre this weekend and next and it is funny and clever every step of the way.
Geordie artistic director Dean Patrick Fleming knows so well how to tickle the audience’s funny bone with his particular blend of physicality and comedic wisdom and he’s surrounded himself with just the right people to do his playful bidding.
Opening night, Meilie Ng was rambunctious and believable as the irresponsible Pinocchio. Her energy and clever use of repetitive body movements to clearly define Pinocchio’s puppet physique were utterly convincing. She might be a girl in real life, but she incarnated a young boy puppet onstage.
Amanda Kellock, Warona Setshwaelo, Alain Goulem, and Antoine Yared all excelled in their multiple roles – each one a master of comedic timing. With so many roles and so many laugh-out-loud moments, it’s challenging to pick out just one (although Kellock giving the cricket a Parisian accent was a stroke of genius).
Again, Fleming brought a standout creative team to the table. The production was no small challenge for veteran Geordie collaborator Ana Cappelluto, who designed Pinocchio’s sets and puppets. Pinocchio’s adventures take him into the forest and under the sea, and along the way he encounters a phone book full of bizarre characters. A precarious looking bookcase/house frame dominated the stage in all its minimalist glory. It was puppet-maker Geppetto’s impoverished home. It was a bustling pub. It was a structure of many possibilities, where a cast of characters honest and criminal lurked, ready to encounter Pinocchio on his quest for a moral centre that would turn him into a real boy.
The imaginative use of hand-puppets and stick puppets was all part of the overthe-top-fun. It was about playing it big, all the while reminding the youngsters in the crowd and perhaps an adult or two, that hard work is rewarded, nothing in this world is free and doing good takes a concentrated effort. Oh, and never trust strangers.
Michel Charbonneau’s lighting design was the finishing touch. The subtle shifts in mood and focus underlined the narrative’s transitions and gave clarity to each new adventure. His night sky and moon and sparkling underwater effects were stellar.
The marvellous Ng may have stayed in her Pinocchio outfit throughout, but the four other cast members played around 40 characters, which required a small mountain of costumes and the occasional goofy wig. Designer Cathia Pagotto delivered equal measures of creative and downright wacky, playing directly into the mischievous core that made this production sing.
This is a play for school-age children and their grown-ups.