The things you see at Brisbane Powerhouse on a school night! The Making of Pinocchio is by UK artists Rosana Cade and Ivor MacAskill and it’s like nothing you have ever seen before.

I won’t say I was completely comfortable watching it at times. Full frontal nudity always comes as a bit of a shock to the system and for me some of the content was almost too searingly honest.

But on the other hand, I guess this is not just superficial theatre to entertain. It’s a work that looks into the souls of a couple who are wanting to transmit their truth in a unique way.

Using the story of Pinocchio as a metaphor for gender transition actually works. In this case it is Ivor who is transitioning and he and his partner, Rosana, who star in this two-hander, both explain a little of what their world is like as we explore the issues and, surprisingly, have a lot of fun along the way.

Just to recap, Pinocchio is an 1883 children’s novel by Carlo Collodi and it has been told many times in many ways. The Adventures of Pinocchio was Walt Disney’s second animated film in 1940. Disney does get referenced at one point in the show and knowing what a conservative Walt Disney was, you wouldn’t imagine this interpretation would have been his cup of tea!

In the original story a man by the name of Geppetto creates a wooden puppet toy named Pinocchio who wishes that he would be a real boy. A kindly blue fairy appears and grants him his wish and he come alive … and so it goes.

So, it kind of works in this context and Cade and MacAskill have a lot of fun with it. The piece, which is about 90 minutes long, is set in a fictional film studio and we are invited behind the scenes as they perform and workshop their show.

It’s clever and, as I said, funny at times. There are serious moments though and it is very much cri de coeur from a person in transition who is trying to explain what that is like to a world that sometimes does not, or will not, understand.

With ingenious scenography designed by Tim Spooner, layered with sound by Yas Clarke, lights by Jo Palmer and cinematography from Kirstin McMahon and Jo Hellier (the action is projected onto a large screen centre stage) the show shifts between fantasy and reality, humor and intimacy on stage and on screen.

It’s hard to fully explain what it is like because it is unlike anything I have ever seen. It has been a hit in the UK where it was first performed and it is in demand in Europe. Full marks to Brisbane Festival artistic director Lousie Bezzina for going after this show and programming it as part of the festival’s LGBTQI+ program this year. It is shows like this that make a festival.

The Making of Pinocchio is on in the Powerhouse Theatre at Brisbane Powerhouse until Saturday September 16

brisbanefestival.com.au

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