Pinocchio Visual Story Pinocchio is a show written by Dennis Kelly, with songs and score from the Walt Disney film by Leigh Harline, Ned Washington & Paul J Smith, adapted by Martin Lowe Relaxed Performance Saturday 17 March 2018 at 1.30pm Sponsored by By special arrangement with Disney Theatrical Productions 1 Visual Story Contents 1: Introduction 2: The Production 3: The Theatre 4: The Set 5: The Characters 6: The Story 2 Introduction Relaxed Performance We are looking forward to welcoming you to the relaxed performance of Pinocchio. The atmosphere is ‘relaxed’, so you can move or talk if you need to. A chillout area will be available in the foyer if you need a break and you can come in and out of the auditorium (the room where the show takes place). This visual story contains information about the play and lots of images to help you prepare for your visit. It also has information to help you find your way to the Lyttelton theatre at the National Theatre, where the show is being performed. If you would like to see some videos of the show before you come, please click on the links below (if you are reading this on a computer). Or visit the National Theatre YouTube page. See some clips from the show, and what people think of the show See how the Jiminy Cricket puppet works Hear some of the music and see the actors practising 3 The Production Length This show is 2 hours and 25 minutes long and is shown in two parts with an interval in the middle (an interval is a short break in the show). The first half is 60 minutes. The interval is 20 minutes. The second half is 65 minutes. Meet and greet After the Relaxed Performance, you will have the opportunity to meet the actors in the foyer for approximately 15 minutes. Theatre guidelines Using a camera or a mobile phone is not allowed during the performance, however if you need to use a device, like a tablet, for your communication, please inform the ushers. You can use your phone or tablet in the chillout space. You can come in and out of the auditorium. If you need to take a break during the show, you are welcome to go out into the foyer area. A chillout space will be available. 4 The Theatre The play is being performed at the Lyttelton theatre which is inside the National Theatre on the South Bank in London. Here is a picture of the National Theatre. 5 The Theatre There are lots of entrances into the building and you may enter through some automatic glass doors, into the ground floor foyer. A foyer is an area where you wait before the show. You will need your ticket to get into the auditorium (the room where the show is performed). You might already have yours when you arrive but if not, you can pick them up from the Box Office (the place where tickets are sold.) Here is a picture of the National Theatre foyer where there is a bookshop and a café. 6 The Theatre There are three theatres inside the National Theatre. You may need to wait in the Lyttelton theatre foyer before the show starts. Other audience members (people who watch the show) may be waiting there to watch the show so it might be busy. Staff will be on hand to provide free visual stories, disposable in-ear defenders and fidget toys. You can also get stickers which help staff identify how much you would like to be communicated with. Please come and say hello, we would love to hear what you think. If you would like to put a bag or a coat in the cloakroom (a room for storing bags and coats) then you need to go to the cloakroom by the bookshop. Any large bag will need to be left in the cloakroom. This includes rucksacks so if there are things you need to take into the auditorium please bring a small bag. For this performance, doors will open about 30 minutes before the play begins. When you go to the auditorium an usher will look at your ticket and tell you where your seat is. An usher is someone who works at the theatre and is available to help. When you enter the auditorium you will be able to see the stage (the area where the actors perform the show) and the seats where the audience sits. At the end of the show the audience will clap to say thank you to the performers. 7 The Set Stage The stage is the area where the actors perform the play. Set The ‘set’ is the name for all the scenery, furniture and objects used on stage in a play. For this play, the set uses lights, people and objects which change throughout to show different things, for example: Geppetto’s Workshop 8 The Set Stromboli’s Theatre Pleasure Island 9 The Set Inside the Whale The Town Square 10 The Characters The Characters Some of the actors play more than one character. Some of the characters are played by puppets and actors. Pinocchio This is Pinocchio. He is a wooden boy, a puppet, who wants to be a real boy. Geppetto He is a puppet-maker who has always wanted a child. When Pinocchio comes into his life he is very happy, and very sad when he goes missing. The Blue Fairy This is the Blue Fairy. At the start of the play, the Blue Fairy takes the wood from the tree the Fox is trying to cut down. She gives it to Geppetto and it is what he uses to make Pinocchio. She appears throughout the story to help Pinocchio out. Sometimes when she appears she is a large puppet, sometimes she is an actor, and sometimes she is a blue flame – these pictures show her as an actor, and as a large puppet. 11 The Characters The Fox This is the Fox. At the start of the play, the Fox tries to cut down a tree, but the Blue Fairy takes the wood from the tree to Geppetto and it is the wood that Geppetto makes Pinocchio from. Throughout the play the Fox tries to get rid of Pinocchio, by sending him away to Stromboli’s theatre, or to Pleasure Island. Jiminy Cricket Jiminy is a cricket, which is a type of insect. At the start of the play, Jiminy is a small insect in Geppetto’s workshop. The Blue Fairy turns Jiminy into a much bigger cricket and makes her Pinocchio’s conscience – this means she tries to help him to make good decisions. Strombolli Stromboli runs a theatre. The Fox sells Pinocchio to Stromboli. Stromboli wants Pinocchio to perform in his theatre. They tell Pinocchio that he will be a star actor because he is a puppet who doesn’t have any strings. Stromboli doesn’t treat his puppets very well, and he locks Pinocchio in a cage so he doesn’t run away. The Coachman The Coachman takes boys and girls to Pleasure Island, where they can do all the naughty things in life: ‘smoking, drinking, playing truant, smashing things, cursing, fighting’. 12 The Story In a forest, The Fox tries to cut down a tree but is chased off by the Blue Fairy. In his workshop (and home), Geppetto tells a new puppet he has created, that the workshop will be his home too. The Blue Fairy arrives, in disguise. Thinking the Blue Fairy is a customer, Geppetto talks about the marionettes (puppets) he has that she can buy, but the Blue Fairy wants Geppetto to make her a new puppet – a boy. She gives him wood from the tree the Fox tried to cut down, explaining that the wood is ‘very special’. Geppetto carves a boy out of the wood. He hears a voice, telling him to be ‘Careful!’ Geppetto thinks he is hearing things but the puppet starts to walk. Geppetto is very happy to have a child of his own, finally – even if it is a puppet. After they have some food the puppet asks what his own name is. Geppetto’s wife’s favourite name was Pinocchio, and the puppet likes it too. The next day, Pinocchio goes to play with the children he can hear outside. The Fox interrupts the game, saying that Pinocchio doesn’t look like the other children – he’s made of wood. Noticing that Pinocchio is eating an apple, the Fox tells him to peel it and throws him his knife. The knife lands in Pinocchios chest but he is not hurt. The Fox says the children are scared of Pinocchio because he is different. That night, Pinocchio has a nightmare. When he wakes up, he wishes on a star that he was a real boy. The star turns into the Blue Fairy – she cannot change Pinocchio into a real boy, but she can tell him how to become one. The Blue Fairy reveals that there is one thing that all humans have in common – Pinocchio just needs to find and understand it. The Blue Fairy offers Pinocchio some help – a conscience in the form of Jiminy Cricket. Pinocchio finds Jiminy very annoying and the Blue Fairy says, ‘of course. She’s your conscience. That’s her job’. Jiminy and Pinocchio argue, and the Blue Fairy tells Pinocchio that he should ‘Listen to his conscience’. Pinocchio doesn’t understand what the point of a conscience is and Jiminy explains that all actions have consequences – ‘You can’t just wander around doing what you want, life’s not like that’.