Book and Lyrics: Charlie Josephine
Music and Lyrics: Jim Fortune
Director: Sean Holmes
The Globe’s new musical version of Pinocchio starts in an Italian town whose neat citizens are proud of their own unvarying traditions. “Every day is the same. Nothing unusual,” runs the first song. Charlie Josephine and Jim Fortune’s lively show goes back to the nineteenth-century Italian fairy tale by Carlo Collodi. But rather than emphasising the moralistic strictures of the original narrative (study hard and don’t lie, or terrible things will happen), the writers lean into subtler, more contemporary themes of curiosity, innovation, family, magic, and realising the impossible. The characters must explore and come to terms with the joys and dangers of “the wide, wild world.” This winter spectacle is staged outdoors in the big wooden riverside theatre, where families are encouraged to wrap up and brave the elements for a seasonal treat.
Pinocchio is full of fabulous live music, composed by Jim Fortune and directed by pianist Benjamin Holder. The sounds vary from soulful Elizabethan-style strings that accompany an elegant puppet version of Romeo and Juliet to modern rhythms and grand ballads. There are step-perfect, effervescent dance numbers, choreographed by Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu, shifting from traditional steps in the opening scene into toe-tapping newer dances as the show takes flight.
Best of all, the puppetry that powers Pinocchio himself is beautifully accomplished. With a winning, quizzical expression on his little wooden face, the curious, lovable puppet is the most compelling character on stage. He’s voiced by Lee Braithwaite, channelling an irrepressible childlike wonder and zest for life. Puppetry designer Peter O’Rourke directs a skilled team of puppeteers: Stan Middleton, Aya Nakamura and Andrea Sadler. The second half sees shoals of puppet fish join the wooden boy for some mesmerising underwater sequences.
Almost all the creative contributions feel virtuosic, and Grace Smart’s designs add to the enchantment. A scaled-down proscenium arch and lovely scenery, hand-painted by Susanna Burton, channel the old-school aesthetic of Pollock’s Toy Theatres. The costumes, drawing inspiration from Commedia dell’arte, include black-and-white Harlequin-style outfits for the ensemble and puppeteers, contrasting with flamboyant confections of brightly-coloured satin and lustrous, rippled moiré. The citizens of Pinocchio’s conventional home town wear pastel Brueghel-esque outfits: doublet and hose, mob caps and jerkins.
The inventor Gepetto, a slightly downbeat Nick Holder in red cap and laces and green jacket, threatens to upset the town’s staid atmosphere and “get too big for his britches”. He’s just invented “a way of brewing coffee but faster – “expresso” – it’ll never catch on”. Director Sean Holmes makes sure there is always plenty to engage the young audience, who are ready to cheer and boo panto-style. A hugely watchable ensemble of dancers keeps up the tempo and good humour. Among several entertaining performances, Steven Webb stands out as a delightfully camp Giacomo the Cricket and a creepily villainous Coachman.
The many moments of gleeful comedy include an irreverent rant by Ed Gaughan as puppeteer Franzini. “This lot have eschewed fun,” says Franzini, mocking the audience, especially those sitting in the pricier galleries. “They’ve chosen instead to come to this authentic, Elizabethan theatre that was built in 1997. There’s a Pret round the corner older than this.” The Globe Theatre is indeed a late-twentieth-century replica, but it is also authentically crafted from more than 1,000 oak trees, and there is something powerful about watching this iconic story of an enchanted tree, carved and coming to life, here in the open air with the breeze in your hair and the stars overhead.
Charlie Josephine writes the book and some of the lyrics for the new musical. They created the joyously-queered Western Cowbois for the RSC in 2023, and some of the dream team who led to that show’s success is reassembled here among both cast and creatives. This gentle take on a classic kids’ tale is not as radical a reimagining as Cowbois, but it has a fizzing subversive charm. “Have you seen the state of the world?” sobs the Blue Fairy (Lucy McCormick). And when Gepetto accepts his role as Pinocchio’s papa, in defiance of convention, he asks: “Who’s to say what a family should look like anyway?” Pinocchio is a big-hearted theatrical spectacle that turns the famous wooden fairy tale into a great night out.
Runs until 4 January 2026
