Pinocchio

Arriving for the matinee, the usual very warm welcome was received. Director Lawrence Barnett was very busy and introduced the annual panto to the full house audience, it was lovely to see so many children in the audience excited about watching the show.

The set was nicely painted with Italian village scene, with a pizza parlour and toy shop - everything is done in house at Old Buckenham and the amount of work that goes into each production is huge, a real team effort that must take countless hours. Costumes were fantastic (Julie Brown and Maris McCann), and the lighting and sound (Aydan Taylor Ellis and Alan Brown) clear and very well set. I was chatting to Director Laurence about the costs of shows, and sourcing even simple things such as a mechanical Pinocchio nose does not come cheap. My heart is warmed, on my travels across even the smallest venues and groups, that the local community are still so supportive of every show to keep community theatre well and truly alive.

With a small cast of 13, everyone was kept very busy. I understand that some of the cast were taking on larger roles for the first time, and the audience were behind them every step of the way, with only the odd pause in script, which was worked through very well with a smile.

A very commanding and impressive performance from the off, was that of the baddie, Stromboli, played by Matt Warren. His interactions and facial expressions matched the superb timing and delivery of his script in a booming voice, with a suitably villainous wicked laugh. Meeting up with the equally cunning Fox, Signore Volpe (Joan Hocking), and Cat, Signore Gatto (Maris McMann), they made a formidable team of baddies for Blue Fairy (Liz Taylor), to deal with. Maris came into the production due to illness of one of the cast very late on, which I would never have known, as both she and Joan had particularly good on-stage chemistry with each other throughout.

Opening the show as Blue Fairy, Liz was a lovely characterisation, as she captured the audience’s attention every time she came on with wonderfully clear diction and nice vocals in the musical numbers. It is always a lively show whenever Jon Moule is on stage, and, as Lampwick, he kept the audiences’ attention with the usual jokes.

Julie Brown played Pinocchio’s protector, Jiminy Cricket, and with Lampwick’s Mother, Mamma Mia, played by Andy Leitch, all was good at the end as they, Lampwick and Pinocchio saved Gepetto from the whale-this was a very well delivered scene making them appear to be in a boat crossing the sea.

Steve Short, as Gepetto, was also a very warm characterisation, and, with Kat Leitch, as Pinocchio, they were very well cast. Kat never switched off once and kept in character throughout as the wooden boy who wanted to be real.

My congratulations to Director Laurence Barnett, another very enjoyable evening at Old Buckenham Players was had by all.

 

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