This is a lively, imaginative, and entertaining rendition of a familiar tale. It’s only a teeny bit scary (much less so than the 1940 Walt Disney film in my opinion, which terrified me as a child) and would probably be fine for sturdier children under the suggested 10+ age.
Impressive live music from accordion and clarinet and well-executed song and dance are nicely integrated with the drama and performed with gusto by the multi-talented cast. The small stage space is used to the maximum by an elevated set and careful choreography, and a larger-than-life puppet Pinocchio is deployed to great effect in reminding us of his essential ‘otherness’ (which might be forgotten with ‘just’ a ‘real’ actor), and many further delightful and inventive theatrical surprises come thick and fast.
The character of Pinocchio is a difficult one to put over, as he is essentially a selfish, thoughtless, dishonest, and not especially likeable creature. This production did well in giving him a little more complexity, so that his (bad) choices became more understandable. The rest of the cast took on a variety of colourful roles very effectively, though the pace and nature of the tale possibly made the other characters more one-dimensional.
In all, this production is a lot of fun, if it does not entirely escape the confines of the original morality tale.