![[ID: The background is a blue sky featuring the blurred Cambridge Battery. The focal point of the image is Jimmy the Cricket played by Geneviève Steele. Jimmy is caught in a net and holds a magic crystal ball.]](https://www.twisitheatreblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/358691663_1015913286121770_4412405147532977046_n.jpg)
Geneviève Steele as Jimmy Cricket in Pinocchio at Shakespeare By the Sea
Shakespeare By the Sea has remounted their zany retelling of Pinocchio, which was a hit with audiences when it was conceived by the company in 2016. Featuring music by Garry Williams this story is set inside Jimmy Cricket’s Circus somewhere in a fanciful Italian town where a man named Geppetto is hoping to create a hit circus act with his little wooden puppet. When a well-meaning fairy named Stella Blue turns Pinocchio into a real wooden boy the cunning con artist duo of Fox and Cat see a golden opportunity to use Pinocchio’s naivety to their financial advantage. Hilarity and Mayhem ensues.
The story is packed with silliness and many, many plot twists and turns that are sure to delight children of all ages, but it’s the strength of the performances from this eclectic bunch of performers, who also double as musicians, that really makes this show a delight for everyone.
The musical follows some of the plot of the Italian folktale of the same name, and much of it comes from the imaginations of the company who created the show, but parts of it lean on a lot on the specifically haunting imagery of the Disney film from 1940 surrounding the nightmarish land where the children are lured with the promises of no parents, school, or responsibilities. In this show it is called Donkey Island, and its master is Wendell, played with gleeful wickedness by Chris George. He uses his daughter, Jenny, played by Aryelle Morrison, to ensure the children don’t have any second thoughts until it is too late.
Jade Douris-O’Hara plays the well meaning Stella Blue, and Michael Kamras plays a very emotional and fretful new father in Geppetto, while Geneviève Steele brings a hilarious dose of fun chaotic energy as Jimmy Cricket, who is mostly concerned about having his circus stolen out from under him by Fox and Cat, but who also is trying to help save Pinocchio and the other children when they get into trouble. Soon to be Grade 12 student Siya Ajay brings great energy to Pinocchio, really leaning into the idea that he is just a few days old, so everything he encounters is confusing, overwhelming, and easy for him to innocently misunderstand.
Like in a pantomime the stars of this tale are the two Vaudevillesque villains Fox and Cat, played by Zach Colangelo and Rachel Lloyd respectively. I know these roles weren’t created for Colangelo and Lloyd, but they suit them like Italian leather gloves. Colangelo’s Fox has a gigantic personality, along with an insatiable lust for wealth and power that drives her from con to con. When she bursts out with her stunning eleven o’clock number the irony is that, of course, with vocals like that Jimmy Cricket could have booked her for his circus on her actual talent alone. Rachel Lloyd’s Cat, on the other hand, is the consummate sidekick, apt to bungle things up just a little, and with a heart of gold underneath the desire to help and appease Fox in all her evil shenanigans. Together they make an iconic pair, like two cartoon characters come to life.
Garry Williams has written some excellent songs for this show, including the aforementioned showstopper for Fox. My favourite is the Ride to Freedom Wave Song, which compliments Siya Ajay and Aryelle Morrison’s voices especially beautifully. There is excellent use of musical instruments, including kazoos and a melodica, which sets the circus and family show tone really nicely.
Téa Stewart’s costume design is beautiful. The makeup on Colangelo and Lloyd’s faces as Fox and Cat is so detailed and magical, they are truly transformed into these characters. I also loved the wooden puppet of Pinocchio with his giant round head that Geppetto uses at the beginning of the show; it is a nice mixture of craftsmanship and silliness. Jesse MacLean directs the chaos well, using the entire space of the Cambridge Battery to bring an epic story to life, and finding fun ways to bring us scenes in the middle of the ocean, and (spoiler alert!) inside of a whale.
I felt that there were times that I wanted the relationships between Geppetto, Pinocchio, and Stella Blue to be a bit clearer. In the music Pinocchio bemoans a really overbearing and judgemental experience with his parental figures, but in the scenes Geppetto and Stella allow Pinocchio a lot of freedom and seem to be more nurturing and well meaning than strict. I was also curious about the relationship between Geppetto and Stella before she animates Pinocchio, since she also steps in to become Pinocchio’s mother figure. It didn’t at all detract from my enjoyment of the show, but there is room to tighten these dynamics up a bit in the script.
Overall I really enjoyed Pinocchio: The Musical Adventure at Shakespeare By The Sea. It made me laugh and filled up my heart and sent me back out into the night feeling buoyed up by music, merriment, and charm.
Pinocchio: The Musical Adventure plays in repertory with Romeo and Juliet until September 2nd, 2023 at the Cambridge Battery inside Point Pleasant Park (5530 Point Pleasant Park Drive, Halifax). To see the show schedule please visit this website. Tickets are available on a sliding scale from PWYC to $50.00. $50.00 tickets include front row centre seats, all other seating that includes chairs costs $30.00, and the PWYC pricing allows you to sit where you would like in the Cambridge Battery and you can bring your own chair. Tickets are available HERE, or at the door the day of the show.
Shakespeare By the Sea is wheelchair accessible and anyone with accessibility needs can book a ride from the upper parking lot in Point Pleasant Park to the Cambridge Battery venue. Dogs are welcome, and all performances are Relaxed Performances. For more information about accessibility please visit this website or call 902.422.0295 for more information.
