(Image: Courtesy of The Old Rep)
1.The story of Pinocchio is 137 years old, written in 1881. First translated to English in 1892, it went on to be translated into over 260 languages and has since become the second most translated book in the world (after the Bible). The version of the story presented at The Old Rep is a brand new adaptation especially for this production.
2.The wardrobe team have been hard at work in the run up to the show creating approximately 300 costume pieces!
3.Director Alec Fellows-Bennett is no stranger to The Old Rep stage. He’ll be familiar to audiences as The Mad Hatter from last year’s Alice in Wonderland and as Ratty from The Wind in the Willows in 2016. But his connection with the theatre goes back even further, as he trained under The Birmingham Stage School 20 years ago.
4.The original story of Pinocchio was very dark. The puppet was disobedient and very mean; he kills the cricket and is severely punished. Thankfully The Old Rep’s production is much more family friendly!
5.Composed by Steve Allen Jones, all the music in the show is brand new including a donkey tap number and a dance inside a whale.
6.The Old Rep is over 100 years old and still retains many original features. It’s the last theatre in Birmingham and one of few in the country that still uses a hemp rope flying system. This means any big pieces of set that fly in from above the stage are lowered in by hand.
7.Think blue! Blue is very important colour in this show, only used for the sea, the sky and when something magical happens…
8.The names in Pinocchio are all Italian. The English translation for Geppetto is Joseph, Pinocchio comes from the Italian for pine nut and Mangiofuoco means fire-eater!
9.When The Old Rep was built in 1913, it was a training ground for young actors, with many a famous name stepping out onto the stage. Today it’s managed by Birmingham Ormiston Academy, fulfilling its original purpose to train the next generation of theatremakers. Getting their first taste of a professional acting job in Pinocchio, five professional actors are joined onstage by an ensemble of BOA students who take on a huge variety of roles.
10.The one thing everyone knows about Pinocchio is that his nose grows when he tells a lie. Expect a combination of wood, whistles and theatrical wonder…
