"All young boys are scamps in their own ways," kindly old Geppetto says near the start of "The Adventures of Pinocchio," playing at B Street Theatre's B-2 Space.
Older boys can be scamps, too, as David Pierini proves with his playful adaptation of the fairy tale about a woodcarver who longs for a son and the puppet he carves who wants more than anything to be a real boy.
Pierini includes many of the adventures the boy puppet experienced in the original fairy tale, but mercifully ignores others, such as Geppetto's incarceration for suspected mistreatment of the child and the part where the puppet, freezing cold, burned his feet off on a stove. (They're in the book, honest).
Rather, Pierini plays up fun – and kid-friendly gross – adventures, such as swallowing coins, gobbling up so much candy you throw up into the bag (and someone else eats from it). It's the kind of "ewww" comedy young ones (especially boys) really like.
Rick Kleber plays Geppetto the woodcarver. You know who he is because there's a sign over his shop: Geppetto the Woodcarver. Kleber throws his ample body and talent into the role, joyously greeting various schoolchildren and passers-by, delighting in the day and the innocence of youth. His face – once all beaming – turns sad, however, when one of the young boys remarks, "Geppetto, you love children so much. Why don't you make one?"
Luckily, as things often happen in fairy tales, Pierini writes in a wood delivery from the Blue Fairy (a charming Leah Marie Zeller), who tells Gepetto, "Carve whatever you wish."
After he shapes the boy (played by Sara Lorraine Perry with all the impudence of a new-made kid) from a huge hunk of pine wood (hence the name Pinocchio) and his creation begins to talk and move about, he exclaims, "I'm a better woodcarver than I thought!" (Especially since the kid has on clothes and everything.)
Ed Claudio plays Professore, the schoolteacher whose refusal to allow Pinocchio to attend school ("… budget cuts, furloughs, now this. … I refuse to teach puppets!") results in the boy running away from home. And everybody knows what happens to boys who run away from home – at least in this fairy tale: They turn into donkeys.
But first there are scam artists, townspeople, an evil theater director (no!), marionettes, and more. The cast of six creates all these characters, each except for Perry as Pinocchio, playing several roles. Zeller plays the marionette director Fire Eater with such a heavy accent every time she says a certain word, everyone asks, "huh?"
Mindy Stover and Ashley Padovani, initially seen as rowdy young schoolboys, are excellent in the roles of Gatto and Furbo, respectively, and Claudio makes a delightful marionette named Pulcinella. As a runaway well on his way to becoming a donkey, Kleber brays with the best of them.
After a very imaginatively staged escape, boy and father are reunited. Ta-dah!
Elisabeth Nunziato directs the episodic play with quick precision, Flora Ronzone's costumes are delightful and Jonathon Williams' stage design is smart and efficient.
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