Viva Lewes Issue #135 December 2017

ON THIS MONTH: PANTO
Pinocchio
Puppet boy goes panto
“Don’t just expect the Disney version on stage,”
says James Weisz, who’s putting on a pantomime
version of Pinocchio at the Attenborough Centre,
University of Sussex, for over a fortnight either
side of Christmas. “In our panto scripts, we go
back to the story’s sources as much as we can, and
we add a lot of different elements, too.”
The original in question was a dark cautionary
tale written in 1883 by Italian children’s writer
Carlo Collodi, in which Pinocchio doesn’t just go
through a naughty phase: he goes through a downright
evil one. “In this case we haven’t followed the
original too closely,” he continues. “In the Collodi
version he kills Jiminy Cricket!”
James, who used to run the Emporium Theatre
and Bar until its closure earlier in the year, has
been putting on pantos in Brighton since 2013,
using the same team. The scriptwriter is Patrick
Kearns, who has over 25 years of panto acting
experience; the casting and child director is James’
partner Natalie Sexton.
“Our last performance was Beauty and the Beast
and it was the last ever show at the Emporium,” he
says. “It was a great way to end that chapter, but
the Attenborough Centre is a much bigger venue.
It can fit 300 people as opposed to around 100, but
it’s one of those well-designed spaces that holds a
lot of people but doesn’t lose the sort of intimacy
you need for a performance like this.”
We speak in the last week of October, and the
team has already cast three children to share the
part of Pinocchio, and 30 kids in the chorus, who
are already practising their songs. Rehearsals start
at the beginning of December. “It’s going to be
a lot of fun,” says James. “The beauty of panto is
that it can be fairly patchwork: we can go from a
Bruno Mars number directly into a jazz classic.
There will be big numbers and ballet, and gymnastics,
and tumbling.”
So it will be visually spectacular, and then some:
“We’re working with the Circus Project from
Hangleton, who teach aerial acrobatics to young
people. They’ll be dealing with the circus elements
of the show. A lot of the action will be
going on in the air.”
For James, the performance at ACCA closes a
neat circle. “Some of the first performances I took
part in as a kid were at the Gardner Arts Centre,
which is what ACCA used to be called,” he says. “I
performed in Christmas shows and musicals, in the
chorus, as a child, aged 12-17. That’s one of the
many reasons I was attracted to the venue.” AL
COMPETITION: We have two family tickets for
four people (worth £60 each) to give away! Send the
correct answer to this question to get in the draw,
by December 10th: which Italian writer wrote the
original Pinocchio story? Answers to competitions@
vivamagazines.com; see vivamagazines.com for
terms & conditions. ACCA, University of Sussex,
20th December – 6th January, times vary but generally
2pm and 7pm, see attenboroughcentre.com.
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