This family production of a the classic children’s tale of Pinocchio is a welcome addition to the fringe and, if you have some little friends and want to introduce them to the fun of the festival , this is a good show to do it. Phil Arnold launches the show with a clever premise and continues to play out the tale with a sense of fun and a veterans hand.

The show uses puppetry and mask as a way for the actor to play all the parts and even brings in a little shadow puppetry for the big scenes with the whale. Arnold has a history of doing children’s theatre and it is obviously a part of the craft he loves. This shows again and again with his sense of play and the way he engages the audience.

This being the opening performance there were a couple of rough spots. The staging made things awkward at times with the audience having to wait for transitions. But to be fair to Arnold the time you have to work out the technical part of a show at any fringe is a couple of hours . Im sure as the show continues it’s run it will improve.

So if you want to take in a show for young families then you can’t go wrong with seeing Phil Arnold perform Pinocchio