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| Pinocchio (photo by Chris Bennion) |
Pinocchio
Through March 9
A refreshing and enchanting production of Pinocchio is now
on stage at Seattle Children’s Theatre. It is a new adaptation of the
Carlo Collodi story by Greg Banks of Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis.
Banks did the adaptation of Robin Hood seen at SCT last year, also. He directed
this production as well.
In this faux-minimalist production, the play begins with an
Italian painter who tells the audience they all need to leave because they will
be painting and there is nothing to watch. Then he “realizes” that they all
have tickets to a performance of Pinocchio and decides he must call in his
fellow painters to try to tell the story as best they can.
The stage is full of scaffolding and ladders and paint cans
and drop clothes. The painters have the usual overalls and caps on and the
story is then told with rudimentary props standing in for what would be a
normal set and props. Of course, it’s all planned, and when an actor has to “fly,”
there is a credible rigging system that hoists him up into the air.
Elise Langer plays Pinocchio throughout and Jason Ballweber,
Maggie Chestovich, and Doug Neithercott play all the other roles, with Victor
Zapanc providing wonderful musical moments. Langer is a fantastic Pinocchio
with just the right aspects of puppet-to-human performance and a dead-pan
clowning nature that keeps the events lighthearted, even when horrible things
are happening. Pinocchio gets his money stolen from him and Gepetto gets
swallowed by a whale and then so does Pinocchio, and Langer’s manner keeps it
from feeling like a huge tragedy.
The whole production is done in understated clowning. It’s
funny but not done for laughs, and the use of whatever is at hand gives it an
improvisational air.
If you remember that Pinocchio’s nose grows and you think
that the story is mostly about not telling lies, this version focuses on
Pinocchio’s deep desire to be a “real boy.” So, finding a way to know how to
become real is the heart of this production. Pinocchio makes all kinds of
mistakes, even though he is told that he must go to school to become a real
boy. The discoveries he makes are the lessons you can take home with your
children. There are many discussions to be had about what your child could
imagine doing differently than Pinocchio.
CTC and SCT certainly know what they’re doing and this
production is highly recommended for everyone from 6 to 86. Even if you don’t
need instruction in how to be “real,” you’ll enjoy the sophisticated clowning
and the imaginative staging.