Pinocchio

Many thanks to St James Players for inviting me along to see their production of Pinocchio, written by Tom Whalley, on Friday 13th January 2023 at St James Church Hall, Lostock Hall. This pantomime, directed by Angela Ross, told the classical tale of the wooden puppet, who, upon a wish from his maker, Geppetto, was transformed to be a real boy, on the provision that he learns 3 humane lessons. Au fait with the Disney version, we meet some expected characters, and to make this a traditional pantomime, some pantocentric characters were thrown in for good sprit and measure. My main take away from this performance was one of humility. The cast were of a full spectrum of ages and each one gave their all on that stage, it was a delight to watch. Also of note was that this was of a minimal budget production, and to me, that did not matter one bit, a wonderful and energetic production was achieved which a was a true joy to commence the 2023 season.

Angela sculpted the narrative with a great pace and there were some interesting uses of the relatively small space. There was a fabulous cohesion within the cast as well as some very interesting individual characterisations. Angela proved that much greatness can come from simplicity. One to watch from me (and I think I am far from prudish) some of the jokes were a little to risqué for my taste and for the age of some of the audience members and cast. Although at times hilarious I would expect some of the far end of the gags in an adult only pantomime. That being said, I am not sure if this was the script or the direction/ cast ad-lib, and this is only my opinion.

As well as directing, Angela took on the challenge with Philip Tomlinson of choreographing the production. The choreography was simple yet effective and matched the level of technical ability of the cast which performed the numbers, with this, the numbers were well drilled and polished and the chorus (who were all youth) looked comfortable and synchronised with their work. More on this to follow, but I felt like the choreography for Pinocchio was well fitting with the isolations, pops and locks, all of which were executed well.

Robin Stopford undertook musical direction. The piece started with a lovely overture played on the piano, it really was quite enchanting. There was a good selection of repertoire for solo and group numbers throughout the piece. I did feel as though more performed songs could have been embedded within Act 1, perhaps by the group dance numbers being sung. The accompaniments for the sung numbers were mainly backing track, which didn’t affect the enjoyment of the piece. I love the use of live embellishments throughout the show, which animated moments further, such as the twinkles for when the good fairy entered, and the reoccurring ‘happy birthday’ theme, which am sure all members of the audience (big, little, or tiny kids) were familiar with.

Set, props and lighting and sound, by Sharon Bird and Martin Shaw, were of a good standard throughout. The set was mainly a painted backdrop of inside Geppetto’s workshop, with tabs and flies brought in to depict differing locations. Props were very detailed throughout, and I loved the reoccurring wooden theme, such as toys and clocks, which fitted very well to the theme. There were also some very good special effects, such as a smoking pizza oven, which enhanced the production well. Lighting was quite simple yet consistent and with some nice embellishments for the villain and carnival scene. Sound was basic, with one hanging overhead and some over head mics for the children. With this, most of the cast projected very well throughout.

Costume and make up, by Lilian Eastham and Cathy Barton, were great. There was great vibrancy within the design, which lifted the animation of the production, which kept the audience engaged. All costumes were true to context of the production, traditional pantomime theme and characterisations. Make up with en pointe and was very detailed for all of the cast.

As an overall statement, all of the performances were of a high standard throughout the production. As noted before, there was great cohesion and synchronisation between the cast, although at times, some of the younger members looked like they would rather be watching than playing, so to that, remember when you’re on stage, you’re always being watched, even if the focus isn’t on you. In order of the programme:

The Blue Fairy, played by Kath Cann, acted as the narrator through out and brought a gentleness to the characters. She looked fabulous in a sparkly blue floating gown, great work. The Assistant to the Blue Fairy was undertaken by Jennifer Carter. She have a good performance and looked majestic standing at rest in turned out 3rd and 4th.

Geppetto, Pinocchio’s creator, gave a rounded performance throughout the show. He was animated and grounded, and provided some wonderful vocals with lovely recognisance with the lower parts of his register.

Stromboli was played by Sarah Cann who was very mean indeed, a delight. She  was a great contrast to the Blue Fairy and was very funny and have a great presence throughout with wonderful command of the stage. She used wonderful emphasis with the use of exposing the whites of her eyes and produced wonderful physicality and gestures. Superb work indeed!

Carlo and Collodi, the clowns to Stromboli, were played by Sonya Thompson and Daisy Alty. For minimal dialogue, they held their focus well onstage, and served to remind the audience to hiss and boo.

Lampwick, the traditional dames son, was played by Lydia Elsden. She had a great energy throughout and the kids in the audience loved the audience participation with this character. I would recommend keeping the high energy but slowing down the pace of the dialogue and allow for some time for punchlines to resolve, but a strong performance throughout.

Mamma Mia was performed by Philip Tomlinson who was utterly fabulous in the role. There was great characterisation, clarity in the audience participation and nice gestures and mannerisms. The way the role was played made me think Philip would be perfect at stand up comedy. He also demonstrated good vocal and movement ability.

Signore Volpe and Signore Gatto, our animal characters who work with Stromboli to convince Pinocchio to go astray, were performed by Adam Smith and Jackie Bird. Adam is a very skilled performer with immaculate articulation and used a variety of tone, pitch, and pace, as well as physical characterisation to portray this slimy character very well indeed. Jackie played a great contrasting simpleton character and I loved the repetitions of paw gestures and sticking her tongue out to animate this character further.

Pinocchio was played by  Grace Davies who portrayed this character as a streetwise youths, which was a great choice to rapport with the local youth audience members. There was good use of isolations and street dance technique brought into the characterisation and she brought a good innocence to the role. Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio’s conscience, was performed by Helen Kynaston who gave a nice characterisation throughout. More work on projection and diction to match some of the more experience members of the cast wouldn’t go amiss, but a very pleasant performance overall.

Last but no means least, the children’s chorus who I will not mention by name, were extremely cute and well drilled. There we always in sync and in tuned with one another.

Overall, a wonderful production was achieved and I would like to thank St James Players for inviting me to this show, I look forwards to The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe in June 2023.

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