Pinocchio

Published Tuesday 11 December 2007 at 16:30 by John Percival

I hope the kiddiewinks will not try to imitate Charlotte Broom as the smiling sexy fox in Pinocchio at Covent Garden - her lascivious gestures make her by far the liveliest and most convincing character on stage. Luckily Elisabetta D’Aloia’s gentle and kind Blue Fairy comes a close second, with her scooter and her magic wand.

But among the grown-up characters, Ewan Wardrop’s greedily manipulative crook Stromboli easily has the odds over the stodgy would-be father Geppetto, played by Andrew Corbett. I fear, though, that the title part needs a more vivid personality than Christopher Akrill gave him on opening night, and I hope that he can learn a more puppet-like way of walking.

The kids in the audience seemed familiar with the plot, which is just as well, since neither Phil Porter’s text nor Will Tuckett’s movement go far to make the story clear. Still, Martin Ward’s score for a six-piece band is often pretty jolly. Extremely high praise is due to the Quay Brothers for their amazing set designs, transforming instantly from one unexpected scene into another, and Nicky Gillibrand for her colourfully original costumes.

And Pinocchio’s famous nose is as conspicuous and as given to enlarging itself as anyone could wish.