Pinocchio – conjuring up a tale of the unexpected for audiences in The Mac (until 1 Jan)

Cahoots NI went back to the original 1881 story of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi to conjure up this year’s Christmas production that runs in The MAC until 1 January.

Right from the start there’s magic in the air as snow falls on the gathered carollers. While the story takes ten minutes to get into its stride, the pace picks up as puppet Pinocchio (Max Abraham) emerges from a log on Geppetto’s (Bob Kelly) carpentry bench. At times the story is told through mood and music as much as dialogue and lyrics.

The orchestra are concealed behind a couple of upstairs windows in the set which switches from house to streetscape to courtroom in the blink of an eye. It’s like* Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In with panels and doors opening and closing to reveal characters. (*But only if you’re old enough to remember!)

Nearly 150 years old, the story is still contemporary with child trafficking, insecurity, shame, con artists and a prescient line – probably written many months before the worst of the EU referendum and US Presidential campaigns – reminding the audience that “a lie can travel half the world while the truth is putting on its shoes”.

Every time a page in the script story is turned, there’s another surprise, another jump to an unexpected situation. Where else in Belfast this Christmas would you see someone juggling two knives and a lettuce, a woman being stretched and a young puppet being shrunk?

This is no Disney story. A naïve Pinocchio descends into darker and darker places before his rebirth and eventual transformation. An upbeat final song recaps the Pinocchio’s journey and finally shifts the mood into the light.

The choreography is tight throughout and cast members’ laser-like eyelines keep you focussed on the action (or where the director wants you to be looking). The sleight of hand and misdirection even continues as fog rolls out across the stage and props appear during scene changes.

The pelt-covered Jo Donnelly (Cat) and Hugh W Brown (Fox) inject mischief and attitude into their ‘decent criminal’ roles, while Sean Kearns was described as “the goodest baddie ever” by one youngster attending the opening night as The Great Rocombollo transforms from being moderately nasty at the start to being positively sinister by the end.

Audience participation is minimal. The show is aimed at six years and above, with young children in the audience loving the music while the magic kept the interest of the older ones. Large scale tricks are incorporated into the story (cast members appear and disappear like money in your current account) and even the small effects work effortlessly (like Pinocchio’s telescopic nose and the donkey ears).

Everyone sings in tune. Pinocchio’s young stripy-legged friend Candlewick is played by Philippa O’Hara who sings, tap dances and contorts her way into the audience’s hearts, particularly when she takes a feisty friend-forever turn after the interval. But the emotional content is provided by Charlotte McCurry whose voice angelically reverberates around the auditorium as she periodically sprinkles magic dust over Pinocchio’s wobbly state of affairs.

“The choice is yours Pincchio, always”

There’s a quality to the production which is rich with layered sound effects, bird like shadows cast against the set, costumes that are quirky and otherworldly, and props with more than a hint of steampunk. While you can’t have a spinning piano and Kyron Bourke’s spine-tingling singing every December, the creative team of Paul Bosco Mc Eneaney (director), Charles Way (script), Garth McConaghie (music) and Hugh W Brown (lyrics) have crafted an enchanting world for this Christmas Belfast stage.

Pinocchio is a Cahoots NI production (sponsored by Phoenix Natural Gas) and runs in The MAC until 1 January.