Review: PINOCCHIO, Lanternhouse

Pinocchio is this year's Christmas show at Cumbernauld's Lanternhouse Theatre. Written by Gary McNair, directed by Laila Noble and with music by Brian James O'Sullivan this is the festive offering which isn't quite a panto (but is a wee bit).

Pinocchio (Julia Murray) lives with his granny (Cole Stewart) in a safe little cabin. A skilled carpenter, Gepetta carved her grandson out of magical wood and brought to life a real boy. The magic only works within their home though and though Pinocchio longs to go outside, Gepetta insists that he can't. While the reason is that Pinocchio will return to being a puppet, it soon becomes clear that Gepetta also has her own issues with the outside world.

Stephanie MacGaraidh and Caitlin Forbes take on a variety of other roles throughout the show as the characters that pop in and out of the cabin and that Pinocchio meets on his adventures outside. Murray is great fun as this plucky little puppet who only wants to get his granny a special present from the big shopping centre but gets into all sorts of scrapes on the way.

The music from Brian James O'Sullivan is brilliant and manages to bring a fresh but familiar feel to the story whilst avoiding any legal issues from a certain Mouse. Fraser Lappin's set and costume design is imaginative and beautiful- the cabin where Gepetta and Pinocchio live is fantastic.

A slight issue which is no fault of the show or marketing whatsoever is an audience that chose to disregard the 7+ rating. Pinocchio isn't scary or inappropriate but a younger audience can (and did) get bored. There's a few elements of panto, a couple of moments where the audience are invited to shout out instructions but it isn't enough to keep the little ones from growing extremely restless.

McNair's script is packed with humour and wit and some truly spectacular digs at Scotrail.  It's not quite the classic story that you know and there are some really good twists in this inventive and imaginative piece of festive theatre. 

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