A Review of Jasmin Vardimon’s Pinocchio by Thomas Markham, one of exetreme’s young volunteers

Like many others, I grew up watching the tale of Pinocchio as brought to life in glorious animation by the good folks at Disney. Since then, Pinocchio has been a favourite for both children and adults for just simply how entertaining and timeless the film is. However, that is not what I went to see on October 21^st. What I instead saw was a fantastic performance telling the famous story in an original and surprising way.

What helped make this performance stand out to me was definitely how the story was gotten across through various mediums, the most important of which was interpretive dance. The choreography on display managed to capture the mood the scene was trying to set. These feelings created by the choreography were only enhanced by the great music which fitted each scene. However, the dancing wasn’t the only medium used to help convey the story. There were also hands and feet, with three pairs of hands belonging to members of the ensemble being used to create the “face” of the narrator/Pinocchio’s conscience. However, I must not downplay how spectacular the actors were at conveying their characters with little-to-no actual lines. Maria Doulegri really shines in a scene where Pinocchio is picked on by other school children due to his unusual behaviour. This scene was very powerful and showed a real tragic side to Pinocchio’s character and I felt she did a brilliant job in that scene.

Overall, this was a fantastic performance that I would recommend anyone to come and see.

Overall Rating: 5/5 Stars