Fairy tales come to us in a sanitised form, masking the darkness that lies behind them. We can be offered a distilled drip rather than the heavy essence of their shocking origins.
Carlo Collodi’s late 19th century tale, The Adventures of Pinocchio, is no exception. The cute yet unsympathetic character is generally known to us through the 1940 Disney version or the 1976 Danny Kaye film. Opera North has brought us altogether something else.
Jonathan Dove and Alasdair Middleton have created an extraordinarily elaborate and true production that is the result of 10 years work and research involving visiting Collodi in Tuscany, where Carlo Lorenzini (Collodi) lived, and where the Parco di Pinnocchio displays the whole story.
Collodi’s story is of the wooden puppet, created by Geppetto, a poor, lonely wood carver, and his many fantastic adventures on his way to discovering what he really wants – to be a real boy. The famous nose growing feature when Pinnocchio lies, though technically brilliant, played only a small part in this production.
In Francis O'Connor’s impressive wooden set, like the inside of a giant crate, the theme of wood is set from the word ‘go’. Geppetto finds a log for firewood but creepily there is a voice calling “Make me!” from inside. With his carpentry tools hanging from the wall, he sets to work to release his ‘first born’ from its wooden womb, like a bucolic Frankenstein.
Under flashing lights and a mix of nightmare and magic, Pinocchio appears fully formed and in full voice, eyes glinting with devilment and self-protection, brilliantly shown and sung by Victoria Simmonds. This bully who is full of the broken promises and gets his way at every turn somehow captures his ‘father’s’ heart. Poor Geppetto never once thinks he should have left the rogue in the log in spite of Pinocchio’s temper and disregard for anyone but Pinocchio.
On his way to his Damascus moment in this fine operatic pantomime, Pinocchio meets tempters and baddies in the form of an effete and limping sleekit fox and a seriously dodgy looking roly-poly pawing cat played wonderfully by James Laing and Mark Wilde respectively.
He is befriended by the lovely Blue Fairy played sweetly and aptly by Fflur Wyn and comes across fabulous characters like rabbit undertakers, a great big scary frying pan wielding sea monster, a scissorhands crow and my personal favourites, the spectacularly dressed cricket and parrot, played by Rebecca Bottone who looked and sounded magnificent and a glorious Hilda Ogdenesque snail played with puffing splendour by Carole Wilson.
Opera North’s powerful chorus came to the fore in the vibrant crowd scenes at the puppet show, the circus and the seaside. Pinocchio’s cumulative learning process peaks at Funland where he is tempted by his schoolboy chums, who looked like a load of Al Murrays (pub landlord) in shorts and wellies, to go to a school-free land and subsequently ends up being swallowed by a giant whale where his ‘father’ Geppetto has been languishing. The amazing creation of the sea scene and the inside of the whale take place smoothly and astoundingly. The skills involved in planning and executing this are truly awe inspiring. Full credit to all those involved!
It is probably clear to any opera lovers reading this review that the singing has barely been mentioned. This is because opera is not the favourite genre of this reviewer, so it is only fair to review it as a show and comment that my opera loving companion enjoyed the performance immensely.
What impressed me, was the whole spectacle of set and costume, the live orchestra, the dance and acrobatics, and, maybe most important, the very audible text. This highly professional piece has been played successfully in Minneapolis, Stuttgart and Chemnitz and is touring in England after its Edinburgh run.
The show could probably have been a bit shorter, especially as children as young as 7 are being encouraged to go, although this seemed slightly young for this dark and sometimes cruel story.
The strong lesson seemed to be that to become a real boy, Pinocchio had to learn to give as well as just take. He had to learn humanity – a great lesson for everyone.
Show times and tickets
27, 28, 29 October, 6:30pm; 30 Oct, matinee 2pm & 7pm; then touring
Ticket Prices
£15 - £27; (16 and under: £5)