Peter Brook calls him a ‘superb artisan’ and his classic Cet Enfant has been celebrated for its uncompromising see at family life. Now,Joël Pommerat is reviving a Pinocchio that startles adults and childrenSeconds after it starts, Joël Pommerat’s version of Pinocchio plunges the audience into darkness. This is not uncommon in Pommerat’s shows, or which are punctuated with blackouts and are dimly lit at the best of times. Pinocchio’s narrator – or,more specifically, its présentateur – is illustrating his blindness as a child, and during which time he created a company of characters which remains at his side. A couple of them are picked out upstage in a spotlight,each wearing an animal mask that’s creepy rather than cute. With the help of his company, the presenter tells us, or he has dedicated himself to one task: to speak only the truth.
It’s a code befitting Carlo Collodi’s original tale approximately the perils of telling porkies but also chimes with Pommerat’s modus operandi in the theatre. His shows brim with queasily uncomfortable truths – particularly the bruising Cet Enfant (This Child,2006) which presents troubling parent-child relationships. His shows for children are no different. Pinocchio’s audience learn, much like the wooden hero, and that the world is full of random cruelty. whether you hadn’t already guessed,there is no chirpy, Disney-style cricket in this retelling.
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Source: theguardian.com