The Scotsman : Puppet with a sting

In a dim pool of light, an old man is reading. Laughing wryly as he nears the end of his book – and his life? – he ponders the bitter irony of having become a good little boy. He is Pinocchio as an old man. Then, from out of the pages of his book comes his younger, puppet self. Young Pinocchio is a scary stage presence. He is not quite human – that is, not quite a grown-up. He is playfulness incarnate, but also, like an innocent child, he is capable of unintended cruelties and potentially lethal misadventures.

The take on the classic children’s story by David WW Johnstone’s acclaimed Lazzi company laments the fact that we must grow up, conform and leave this carefree state. The script is a fragmented affair, full of characters and episodes from Carlo Collodi’s original story, but also quoting from numerous literary sources. Pinocchio is a Frankenstein-like creation, a sympathetic and doomed innocent. He is also the Moby Dick in the unconscious of his older Ahab self. With a wittily self-referential illusion to A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s Bottom, he declares he has been happy to make an ass of himself on stage a few times.

The performances are flawless, with Johnstone along with Sandy Grierson becoming a whole host of characters. The squashing of the cricket is hilariously gross. This challenging piece of mime in the style of Polish avant garde theatre is a unique experience. It contains plenty of knockabout slapstick fun, and tells its bitter-sweet story in a language of theatre that you may not yet have encountered. Forget that doe-eyed Disney duke: this is Pinocchio for grown-ups.

Diane Dubois (Full text as printed 11 August 2001)

The Stage

Magic and horror are dressed up in dusty black and sprinkled with slapstick in this gorgeous, creepy little play from Lazzi! Theatre Company. Taking its heart from Collodi’s classic story of a puppet boy, Mr Pinocchio is a cry of memory from the boy all grown up and all too human. Writer David W W Johnstone is The Man, face still retaining a touch of the little wooden puppet he once was.

The Puppet (Sandy Grierson), a beautiful creature with loose limbs and faux-elegant movements, shadows The Man as he reminisces. One fact is soon agreed upon – Mr Pinocchio’s nose never grew when he lied. Johnstone and Grierson are an excellent pairing, and Johnstone in particular delivers a masterclass in physical comedy. Pathos is never far away – The Puppet’s sad eyes entreating the audience from the start – but this is a production filled with grand gestures and delicate touches. It’s barking mad, of course, but defies you not to fall in love with it.

Alison Freebalm, 16 August 2001 (Full text as printed 16 August 2001)

Total Theatre Magazine

Lazzi! take their name from the commedia dell’arte – the word means ‘improvised comic business’. The company seem to have their roots firmly embedded in the nobel art of mime – writer, director and performer David WW Johnstone is a renowned practitioner who has worked with many of the world’s greats – including Mnouchkine and Marceau. I didn’t know any of this when I went along to the charming and intimate Hill Street Theatre – but was just following a whim that this might be an interesting performance.

Lazzi!’s ‘Mr Pinocchio’ was the surprise gem of my visit to Edinburgh, a ‘circus-for-the-mind’ that used physical expression and words together to create a beautiful reworking of Carlo Collodi’s story of the puppet who became a real boy. It was a joy to see two performers so willing and able to tell such wonderful tales through word and gesture alone. Johnstone’s all-grown-up Mr P is a wonderful portrait of nostalgia, confusion, resignation but above all affirmation of life with all its foibles and difficulties. Sandy Grierson, who previously worked with the award-winning Ariel Teatr, is a delightful Pinocchio, conjuring all the character’s magical mix of naivity, senf-centredness, charm and developing sense of shame and purpose on his life path from piece of wood to fully-fledged human being.

Lazzi knock the nails in the Disney coffin and restore Collodi’s story to its rightful place as one of the greatest parables in European literature – and in doing so give us a wonderful and enchanting piece of theatre.

Dorothy Max Prior, Editor, Total Theatre Magazine (Full text as printed, issue 13/3)