Flair and style bring this wooden boy home

WINDMILL Theatre, with State Theatre Company of SA, have given the Pinocchio stories some contemporary tweaking.

Pinocchio

FIRST appearing in 1883 in the stories of Italian writer Carlo Collodi, Pinocchio, the mischievous wooden puppet who longs to become a real boy, has become a modern archetype, appearing in numerous translations and adaptations and catapulted into pop culture in the immortal 1940 Disney movie.

Following on from their 2009 The Wizard of Oz, Windmill Theatre, with State Theatre Company of SA, have given the Pinocchio stories some contemporary tweaking.

Director Rosemary Myers and writer Julianne O'Brien have kept the core elements. The creation of the boy, emerging from a block of wood at the skilful hands of Geppetto (affectionately played by Alirio Zavarce), and the plot by Stromboli (the mercurial Geoff Revell) to steal him away from his home, are central.

Present also are Pinocchio's fellow travellers, Fox and Cat (Derek Lynch and Jude Henshall), and his guides and conscience, the Blue Fairy (called Blue Girl and hauntingly played by Danielle Catanzariti) and the cynical wise-cracking Cricket (no longer Walt's Jiminy) steered by puppeteer Sam Routledge.

As Pinocchio, Nathan O'Keefe is a delight: from his stringy walk to his crackling lie-detector nose, his performance is anything but wooden.

But with so many Pinocchio variants to choose from, the production, at just under two hours, runs the risk of carrying too much narrative freight. Perhaps there is not room for two contrasting worlds to Geppetto's tranquil hearth - Stromboli's evil Playland, luring children away to be turned into carnival donkeys, as well as the dream factory Strombollywood (a swipe at the narcissism of celebrity).

We also wonder why, in the brilliantly staged sea scenes, Pinocchio and his father escape from the entrails of a large shark and not the biblical regenerative whale of previous stories.

But there is no escaping the flair of this production. Designer and illustrator Jonathon Oxlade, with video designer Chris More, has created a versatile decor using a large revolving wooden hexagon on to which are projected cartoonish cityscapes, sea scenes and fun parks, all in Looney Tunes colours.

The music - a succession of catchy pop/rock ballads, fetchingly performed by the cast and impressively delivered from the pit - completes the experience. Even in the crowded, uncertain world of new musicals, this Pinocchio, given some narrative nipping and tucking, should win by a nose.

THEATRE
Pinocchio. Windmill Theatre and the State Theatre Company of South Australia. Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre. July 11.

Tickets: $25$47. Bookings: 131 246. Until July 28. Then at the Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, September 6-29