A true tale of love and transition told through the story of Pinocchio but set in a fictional film studio.
Audiences are invited to go behind the scenes of Rosana Cade & Ivor MacAskill’s creative process as well as their relationship, questioning what it takes to tell your truth. Following unanimously praised performances in the UK, Europe, Canada and Australia, Battersea Arts Centre are delighted to welcome Cade & MacAskill back to the Grand Hall for a limited autumn run.
Artists and lovers Cade & MacAskill have been creating The Making of Pinocchio since 2018, alongside and in response to Ivor’s gender transition. Responding creatively to the changes happening in their relationship, they became excited about the imaginative potential of working with the story of Pinocchio to reframe trans narratives and ways that they could use the story of a lying puppet who wants to be a ‘real boy’, to explore ideas around authenticity, shifting truths, and what it means to be seen as ‘real.’
In The Making of Pinocchio, the duo have created a joyful, multilayered world that constantly shifts between different realms of reality and fantasy. Playful, touching, funny, and accessible, Cade & MacAskill offer an intimate insight into their ideas and experience in this true tale of love and transition.
With scenography designed by Tim Spooner, layered with sound by Yas Clarke, lights by Jo Palmer and cinematography from Kirstin McMahon and Jo Hellier, the show constantly shifts between fantasy and authenticity, humour and intimacy, on stage and on screen.
The Making Of Pinocchio is for anyone seeking to explore the sheer joy and limitless potential of queer imagination. Audiences have called it ‘breath-taking’, ‘phenomenal’, ‘showstopping’ and ‘the queer love story of the year’.
Commissioned by Fierce Festival, Kampnagel, Tramway & Viernulvier with support from Attenborough Centre of the Arts, Battersea Arts Centre, LIFT and Take Me Somewhere. Produced by Artsadmin. Funded by Creative Scotland, Arts Council England and Rufolf Augstein Stiftung with development support from The Work Room/Dianne Torr Bursary, Scottish Sculpture Workshop, National Theatre of Scotland, Live Art Development Agency, Gessnerellee, Mousonturm, Forest Fringe, West Kowloon Cultural District & LGBT Health & Wellbeing Scotland.
Pelin Basaran, Head of Programming at Battersea Arts Centre, says: This autumn, we’re thrilled to welcome The Making of Pinocchio, by Rosana Cade and Ivor MacAskill, back to BAC’s Grand Hall for two weeks. We’re incredibly proud to have supported the further development of this extraordinary work. Following huge success across Europe, we feel that it deserves to be seen by a wider audience in the UK. It’s a funny, clever and bold work which tells gender transition story by deconstructing and retelling the classic tale of Pinocchio. It is about being human, about love and acceptance. The show is a great example of what BAC stands for: It’s a stunningly powerful performance that presents marginalized stories on the main stage, and it shows what can be achieved when we work together to realise the larger ambitions of our most promising artists.
The Making of Pinocchio comes to Battersea Arts Centre from 1 – 10 November 2023 as part from BAC’s autumn season. A number of performances are available on a Pay What You Can basis.
