This rendition of Pinocchio is hilariously brilliant! An incredibly talented cast that creates a great, light-hearted, family fun show.

Stuff & Nonsense’s Pinocchio at Lakeside Arts is a vibrant, inventive reimagining of the classic tale. Bursting with creativity, humor, and heart with stunning physicality and a clever set that brings this beloved tale to life, it’s a joy for all ages!

This production presents an engaging story, full of fun and comedy which is accentuated by the clever staging and wonderful characters that are brought to life by an incredible cast.

The use of scenery, staging and puppetry throughout was phenomenal. The way each movement, each line and each role change had significance and moved the story along to create depth and comedy was a delight to see. However, focusing on the puppetry, my eyes were drawn to the vast and varied number of puppets that were used throughout the performance

This production of Pinocchio was full of whimsical fun. The physical theatre was really impressive and added a somewhat cartoonish element to the piece that perfectly emphasised the energetic and primarily upbeat tone of the play. The actors’ use of multi-rolling portrayed through exaggeration in their gestures and voices made the show incredibly engaging and easy to follow in spite of there being only three actors for more than ten characters, as each was clearly distinguished and brought their own unique comedic angle. I also thought that the role of Pinocchio being shared at various points by all three actors was really interesting as it brought to mind in a simple but effective way the question of humanity at heart of Pinocchio.

One of my favourite things about the performance was the intricate design and manipulation of the set to create a variety of vivid locations and allow for some mesmerising moments of stage-magic, like the sudden appearance of puppets and props from seemingly nowhere. What began as a table built of two separate pieces became a puppet theatre, a school, and even the belly of a whale.

I think that the song and dance pieces, along with the occasional moments of audience interaction, really helped to keep the many young children in the audience invested in the show, but I think that it also held its own with the adult audience members through the spectacular design, of costumes as well as sets, and the actors’ commitment to the physicality and exaggeration of each of their roles