My Son Pinocchio Jr. – Southwark Playhouse

Picture: Eliza Wilmott

My Son Pinocchio Jr. continues at the Southwark Playhouse, London until 14 August 2019.

Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩

Few musicals can cite as many sources for adaptation as My Son Pinocchio Jr. As one might expect, it’s based on both the Carlo Collodi novel and the iconic 1940 animated film of Pinocchio, from which it borrows the Leigh Harline and Ned Washington-written numbers ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ and ‘I’ve Got No Strings’.

But it is also based upon a Disney made-for-TV musical, Geppetto, with a book by David Stern and music by Stephen Schwartz, which looked at Collodi’s morality tale from the toymaker’s point of view. Disney Theatrical later converted that into a stage show, Geppetto and Son, later renamed My Son Pinocchio: Geppetto’s Musical Tale.

Now, the British Theatre Academy commences its summer residency at Southwark Playhouse with a production specifically designed for performance by children, My Son Pinocchio, Jr.

But despite the circuitous route from novel to multiple films, via different stage adaptations, the nub of the story remains: a toymaker who wishes to become a father makes a puppet boy, which the Blue Fairy brings to life.

It is the shifting of the perspective to make Geppetto the protagonist that makes this musical interesting. It also asks the question about what it means to be a parent, commencing with James Sampson’s Geppetto begging the Blue Fairy to take the misbehaving boy back. The rest of the musical takes place in flashback, as the Blue Fairy and her team of young trainees re-create the moments that led Geppetto to make his plea.

Holly Hughes’ choreography makes full use of the Southwark Playhouse’s Little space, combining well with Gregor Donnelly’s set design, evoking the spirit of toy-based imaginative storytelling. Sampson (who, like all cast members, is sharing the role with others through the Academy’s run of the show) expresses well the anguish of a man who has always wanted a child, but finds himself overwhelmed by the sudden grant of his wish.

For his part, Ethan Quinn’s Pinocchio is often the supporting role in his own story, stumbling around in bewilderment as he struggles to understand the rules Geppetto puts in place (not because they make sense, but because parents make rules for their children). It is only his encounter with devious puppeteer Stromboli (Felix Hepburn) that spurs Pinocchio into something approaching happiness, ‘I’ve Got no Strings’ being performed by Quinn with a gusto that is infectious.

The various touchstones of Pinocchio’s story so beloved from the animated version are present – Pleasure Island, the transformation of selfish children into jackasses, the encounter with Monstro the whale. As a byproduct of the play’s short running time, it is a little disappointing that some of the set pieces get whisked through without the audience having time to take them in. Add in a couple of diversions taken from the TV movie – including a professor who has a production line of obedient, soulless children, the complete opposite to Pinocchio – and the pace becomes breathless after a while.

But every so often, there is the glimmer of something deeply profound in this tale of a boy and his adoptive father coming to terms with each other’s role. Nowhere is this more apparent when, in an attempt to get Pinocchio’s nose to grow, Geppetto insists his son must lie and say that his father is perfect.

Along the way, Schwartz’s songs illuminate proceedings, especially the ballad ‘Empty Heart’ and the recurring duet of ‘Geppetto and Son’. Given the Little’s small space, it is understandable that the music is played in rather than performed live, but as with any musical that always takes a little edge off the actors’ performances.

And while this is primarily a musical by children, for children, there is enough in My Son Pinocchio Jr. for the grown-ups in the audience to appreciate. And, one hopes, the parents watching will learn a little from Geppetto’s appreciation that children cannot be moulded into perfect little angels.

Scott Matthewman