A London theatre troupe is moving back to Wales with a reimagined version of Pinocchio.

Actor-musicians from The Bohemians return to Llanelli before embarking on a tour of Wales – including Ceredigion – to inspire the next generation of theatre makers to dream big with visually and musically explosive family friendly productions that don’t shy away from big issues.

The Misadventures of Pinocchio: The Radical Robot Girl is a folk-rock fairy-tale set in a post apocalyptic Wales. Audiences will still get noses that grow, puppet-masters and all the dazzling magic, but are warned not to expect a typical happily ever after! Written by Joel Nash, it is an anarchic adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s ‘The Adventures of Pinocchio’. The piece started out as a lockdown writing project between two founding members of The Bohemians, Benji Mowbray and Joel Nash.

Director Benji explains: “This isn’t any old version of Pinocchio. We’ve completely reimagined the original story to say something about the world we live in today.

London theatre troupe moves back to Wales with reimagined Pinocchio for the Greta Thunberg generation. Photo: Andrew Ab
London theatre troupe moves back to Wales with reimagined Pinocchio for the Greta Thunberg generation. Photo: Andrew Ab (Andrew Ab)

“We are exploring how climate change might effect the future of young people in Wales. It’s an 80 minute actor-muso extravaganza exploring the challenges of following your dream and how to navigate the ever changing world we live in. We’ve also written a completely original score with punk rock songs, classic musical theatre moments and some fun folky melodies.”

Joel added: “We are extremely passionate about reimagining fairytales in completely new ways and saying something about the world we live in now. Most people associate Pinocchio with the classic Disney animation, but Carlo Collodi’s original book is a much darker tale. Benji and I spent a lot of time figuring out why and how we should reimagine this strangely dark tale and I think we’ve created something equally as unusual as the original book.”

The Misadventures of Pinocchio: The Radical Robot Girl! is a bright and bold show for ages 7+ and families, but also deals with following your dreams and navigating a broken world as an adolescent teenager.

The show comes to Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Friday, 31 May (2.30pm)