Pinocchio

Trish Cooke has devised a fun book, with references for all to enjoy without falling into the typical trap of being overtly cheesy and cringe! It also offers a lot more emotional depth than you may expect from an Off-West End pantomime, as there are twists and turns at every scene. While these are not all revolutionary or phenomenally written, it does provide good variation throughout and includes a cliffhanger ending in Act 1, really rather literally. We should note, however, that there is no mention of the festive season at all - with no Christmas music or themes at any time.

Some may enjoy this break from the merry madness, however it was definitely unexpected from what is really more of a family musical dressed as a pantomime: and for a show so notoriously about puppets, there is a distinct and rather disappointing lack of puppetry. Be this down to Omar F Okai’s direction, or simply the decision to take the show in a different direction is unclear.

Nick Barstow conducts a small live band with his usual enthusiasm and energy. Unfortunately the ensemble vocals that accompany this soundtrack don’t seem to blend as a chorus should, however this may just be subpar sound quality as this never particularly improved throughout the show despite every actor being mic’d. It also calls into question the casting choices by Tom Shiels and Olivia Laydon (for Jill Green) as these are mostly well done if a little visually mismatched. An example of this is that the infectious keenness radiating from Tok Morakinyo was off-putting next to Jhanaica Van Mook who came across as a little too sophisticated for a production of this kind.