No lie: Wild Rice’s Pinocchio to premiere next month

The promotional poster for Pinocchio. Photo: Wild Rice
The promotional poster for Pinocchio. Photo: Wild Rice

Local theatre house Wild Rice will be premiering its reimagination of a classic children’s novel next month.

Pinocchio, directed by Pam Oei, who helmed the theatre’s Mama White Snake in 2017 and The Emperor’s New Clothes in 2015, will be showing in theatres on Nov. 17 all the way through to Christmas Eve.

The family-friendly musical will explore why we sometimes can’t help but lie.

“Some tell lies to get what they want. Some tell lies to protect others from the painful truth. But I wanted to take a good look at the lies we tell about ourselves because we are afraid that other people will not like or love us for who we really are,” playwright Thomas Lim said in a news release.

The “on-the-nose” musical adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s classic fairy tale is about a wooden puppet who comes to life. He is known for his long nose, which grows when he lies. To become a real boy, he must prove himself while battling his misadventures with a circus.

The adaptation is said to bring laughs and maybe some tears in the heartwarming play that celebrates family, friendship and “the importance of being true to yourself.”

It also marks the reunion between playwright Thomas Lim, lyricist Joel Tan and composer Julian Wong who were the creative dream team for Peter Pan in Serangoon Gardens in 2019. 

Its cast is led by Mae Elliessa, Ebi Shankara, Siti Khalijah Zainal and Dwayne Lau, as well as help from child performers of First Stage Kids — a highlight of Wild Rice’s holiday musicals.

Tickets start from S$30 for the about two-hour show at The Ngee Ann Kongsi Theatre in Funan.

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