The Royal Opera House has gathered up its voluminous skirts, girded its collective loins and taken to the open road with its first ever tour... and I say, more of it. Will Tuckett's Pinocchio gets the New Year off to a cheerful and very welcome start at the Norwich Theatre Royal. It is somewhat of a hybrid - fusing opera and dance - and loosely follows the fairy tale we know so well. The interpretation is strange, surprising and appealing in places - with Matthew Hart dancing the wooden puppet boy with great skill and agility. It's so long since I read the story proper I don't remember it too well, but suffice to say the nose plays a prominent part - though not as much as I distantly recall. We follow Geseppe [Luke Heydon], the man who longs for a son, as he discovers Pinocchio in a tree trunk and takes him home - dressing him and sending him off to school. But the wicked Stromboli [Will Kemp] distracts him with his puppet show, and in showing himself off to be a better dancer than the marionettes on strings, Pinocchio seals his own fate. All manner of alarming, humorous and downright scary scenes follow, though all ends - as in the best fairy tales - happily ever after. It is a shame that the words aren't clearer in the songs, often drowned out by the music, and it doesn't help that Stromboli's part appears to have been written by some kind of Italian Stanley Unwin. All part of the European charm no doubt, but I did wonder that if a reasonably clear thinking adult was having trouble - what about the many children in the audience? However, much of the action spoke for itself, and the dancing is fluid and inventive. The music is strongly influenced by Romanian and Hungarian folk and there are some extremely simple and effective sets designed by the acclaimed Quay Brothers. I particularly liked the sparkly cavalry in the shape of the Blue Fairy [Cathy Marston], holding her wand aloft and peddleing like fury on her scooter as she made her entrances. A fun evening, just long enough for the children in the family and a post-Christmas treat for those who want to postpone the inevitable January blues. Pinocchio runs at the Norwich Theatre Royal until Saturday 21 January, 2006. | 
