Children’s Theatre Company Opens 2026-2027 Season With Pinocchio

Article by Becky Fillinger, photos provided

A Discussion with Director, Greg Banks

Pinocchio opens the Children’s Theatre Company's 2026-2027 season. We talked to Director and Adaptor Greg Banks about the timelessness of Pinocchio, what it means to become a ‘real person’ in today’s world, and why the show’s themes will resonate with children and adults. It’s on stage from September 8 to October 18 – get tickets here.

Q: Pinocchio has been retold countless times. What drew you to create your own adaptation?

A: It’s a great adventure story with a ton of exciting encounters; finding ways to recreate and tell a story as complex as this is always a fascinating challenge. What is particularly engaging for me is that this story goes right to the heart of growing up, what that means, and how we've all had to make that journey and continue to do so right through our lives. It resonates for all of us whether as parents/guardians of young ones or as young ones setting out on that journey. This story speaks to the child in all of us.

Greg Banks

Q: What aspects of Carlo Collodi’s original story were you most eager to preserve?

A: The playfulness of Pinocchio set against Collodi’s adult world, a world that is full of tricksters and people out to take advantage of his innocence. It's a pretty hostile place. Collodi doesn’t shy away from exposing Pinocchio to that world and I was keen to hold on to that. Young people want to know about the world and how it works. We need to answer their ‘why’ questions as honestly as we can.

Q: Many people think of Pinocchio as a story about telling the truth, but it also explores identity, belonging and growing up. Which themes resonate most strongly with you?

A: All of them. They are all tied in together. Where does Pinocchio belong? Is he a puppet or is there more to him? He begins as an entirely selfish, self-obsessed ‘child’ with no sense of how his behaviour affects the world. The story is all about his growing up and by the end he has developed altruism, empathy, a sense of himself and his agency in the world. He cries, he becomes truly human, he belongs in the world.

Q: What does becoming a 'real boy’ symbolize in your adaptation?

A: Being a ‘real boy’ has more resonance at this time when being gender fluid has currency and meaning for many people. It’s less complicated for Pinocchio who doesn’t know what it means to be a real boy, but he senses there is something else, that he is not simply a puppet, not simply a plaything of Geppetto’s. He also resists the definition of himself as a ‘puppet boy’ given to him by others. But by the end of the story, he has discovered who he really is. He has become a real boy on his own terms. Finding out who we really are is a journey we all go on throughout our lives.

Which is why Pinocchio resonates with audiences more than 140 years after it was written.

Q: How do you create a production that engages children while offering deeper layers for adults?

A: I try not to write down to what I think children can handle, I don’t patronise them; I try to tell the story as clearly as I can. The crucial part is choosing a story that already contains those deeper levels. I have to be engaged in the story for myself, I have to find my connection, it has to speak to me. After that, it’s a really intuitive process, there are no rules to follow. I trust my instinct and see what comes up.

Q: Does your Pinocchio change in unexpected ways compare to traditional versions?

A: Essentially, I stay pretty faithful to Collodi’s original story, the difference being that the story is told by a gang of painters who have been employed to repaint the whole stage. They arrive for work and are shocked to find the theatre filled with audience members who have come to watch Pinocchio. After a bit of back and forth they agree to tell the story themselves and then use all the stuff on the stage, scaffolding, paint cloths, planks, ladders, buckets, etc., to help create the different scenes and costumes. It means we and the audience really have to use our imagination to create Pinocchio’s world and can have a lot of fun on the way. One reviewer commented that within two minutes she had forgotten the Disney version all together.

Q: Today’s children are growing up in a world shaped by social media and artificial intelligence. Does Pinocchio’s search for authenticity feel especially relevant today?

A: Finding out who you are and what you want to do with your life has always been a fundamental part of being human. Social media and AI, while seeming to provide answers, often seem to confuse the issue, obscuring who we are with who everyone else seems to be. Pinocchio’s search for authenticity is as old as time, and while being especially relevant today is being made harder by the advent of social media and AI.

Q: If you could summarize the heart of your adaptation in one sentence, what would it be?

A: In this adaptation, I wanted the audience to share in the fun and energy that all young ones - in this case, Pinocchio - have, for discovering the world, and to be with him as he emerges into being a fully rounded 'real boy' who has learned to love his papa...a boy full of empathy and self-awareness.