Pinocchio

The set-up of the show was that the 4 actors are lost and can't find their theatre space and so, after a bit of bickering and some creative thinking, decide to do the performance right where they are – in the school hall. This frame allows us to create some lovely comic moment, as the actors ‘improvise’ their way through the show and need help from the audience, providing that all important audience participation.

It also means that they go back to the text again and again – and a large red book with Pinocchio on it is on stage at all times. We hope the show encourages children to read more classic stories and think about them in new and creative ways.

We’d had so many calls and emails from teachers asking us to create a performance for Christmas. Many schools bring in our performances all year, for Anti-Bullying and drugs education, and they clearly thought we could create a fantastic Christmas show for them. We wanted to help but it’s something we’ve always avoided because we place education and learning at the heart of what we do, and we’ve never felt Cinderella or Aladdin quite fitted the brief.

But after a few creative conversations at Altru HQ, we decided that a new adaptation of a traditional tale could be the answer. It would allow us to create wonderful theatre for schools and ensure that we were meeting our objectives by keeping learning at the centre of our work. And we love literature, stories and classic tales. We were excited by the prospect!