Pinocchio: No Strings Attached! - Above The Stag Theatre - ★★★★★ - Until January 11, 2020


If you can only do one panto this Xmas season, this should be the one. Pinocchio: No Strings Attached is the perfect representation of the genre. Jon Bradfield and Martin Hooper have created a terrific entertainment. If this doesn't get you in the Xmas spirit, you should be off playing Scrooge in another panto somewhere! This hilarious show hits all the right notes: silliness, social satire, sing along and unforced audience participation. Even if you are the reticent type, you can't help but 'Boo' when Christopher Lane's brilliant Figaro comes on stage. It's a great comic turn and you would have to have the hardest of hearts not to sympathise with Matthew Baldwin's wonderful Geppetta and Christy Bellis' perky Cornetta. Oli Dickson's Joe wants a relationship with strings and who couldn't identify with the love he feels for the talented tyke, Pinocchio, played delightfully by Jared Thompson. Briony Rawle is great fun as Chianti the cat, and we loved Shane Barragan's totally cuddly Pedro. He deserves to get his 'girl'! Dami Olukoya is terrific as Fatima, the sardonic fairy. She delivered our favourite line amongst so many clever quips. Pinocchio is looking for adventures and this production is a wonderful one. The action and jokes never stop. This is a show that should become your new Xmas tradition!

 Reviewed by J.C.

  Our Score:  ☆☆☆☆☆ 

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 WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE:
Until January 11, 2020
Various show times available (see website below)
Above The Stag Theatre
Nearest tube: Vauxhall
https://abovethestag.org.uk

Map & Location: 72 Albert Embankment, Vauxhall, London SE1 7TP, UK

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