'Pinocchio' review — watching this classic wooden character come to life is a wonderfully authentic fairy tale experience

Read our review of family musical Pinocchio, now in performances at Shakespeare's Globe to 4 January 2026.

Summary

• The classic tale Pinocchio comes to the stage as a new musical
• Charlie Josephine and Jim Fortune adapt the fable for theatre
• Pinocchio is brilliantly brought to life as a puppet
• This is a great authentic fairy tale experience for family audiences

Carlo Collodi’s 19th-century puppet-centred classic Pinocchio is dark, strange and a long way indeed from the Disneyfied adaptation we typically encounter today. This new musical version, played out under the wintry skies, thankfully takes it back to its roots even if, like the protagonist’s famous nose, it takes its time to grow.

Written by Charlie Josephine (book and lyrics) and Jim Fortune (music and lyrics), it sticks pretty faithfully to the plot of the episodic original, with a few understandable excisions. Pinocchio is chiselled from a special piece of wood by unpopular small-town inventor Geppetto (Nick Holder), initially for the purpose of financial gain, but before long a paternal bond has started to develop.

The mouthy marionette soon encounters flamboyant cricket Giacomo (Steven Webb), who teaches him a few fundamentals before promptly falling down a hole, and gets an offer from sardonic puppet impresario Franzini (Ed Gaughan) to join his troupe, before getting waylaid by a scheming fox (Kerry Frampton) and Cat (Lucy McCormick), saved by a Blue Fairy (also McCormick) and swallowed by a whale, in whose stomach he’s reunited with his maker.

The show really springs to life when Gaughan delivers a superb fourth-wall breaking monologue berating the middle-class audience and mocking the newness of the so-called Elizabethan venue (“I’ve got jokes older than this place”). From then on it seems to move up a gear and become much more the subversive festive family experience we’ve come to expect from this address.

It helps that Globe associate director Sean Holmes's production has an irresistible homespun charm, augmented by Grace Smart’s clever and colourful toy theatre-esque design. It’s just so wonderfully real, unlike the poor titular character himself, who nevertheless proves the standout, skilfully handled by three puppeteers including Lee Braithwaite, who voices him with convincing childish enthusiasm. There's something about seeing our most famous wooden character being brought to life in this oak-filled arena that just feels right.

I can’t pretend that many of the musical numbers will live long in the memory, but there are a few exceptions, notably a deliciously dark turn from Webb who pops up in the second act as a sinister coachman who tries to lure Pinocchio to his nightmarish theme park Toyland. There’s also a nice (naturally) blues number from McCormick’s Fairy, as she reflects on the irony of being a cheerful character with a tendency for melancholy.

Although it could perhaps do with a little more time in the workshop, for those keen to give their young ones a more authentic fairy tale experience this Christmas, Pinocchio makes a very solid option. There’s always something magical about seeing the Globe illuminated with lights and laughter at this time of year. And when our hero does finally get his wish to become flesh and blood (in the form of the alternating Ethan Bruce-Konauh/Asa Jones), it’s truly a moment to melt the coldest of hearts.

Pinocchio is at Shakespeare's Globe to 4 January 2026. Book Pinocchio tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Photo credit: Pinocchio (Photos by Johan Persson)