"Nelson's brief play takes place in a tiny Italian village after the Allied victory in World War II. This village is the birthplace of Pinocchio, the puppet who became a real boy--a fact advertised on a huge billboard decorated with the toy boy's famous smiling face. But the billboard is dilapidated and defaced now; and the pretty town we remember from the opening frames of Walt Disney's movie has become a cesspool of corruption and poverty. Geppetto has been knocked off by black marketeers; Jiminy Cricket is squashed by a bored townsperson before our eyes; theft, abortion, and murder are common occurrences. Pinocchio, now an all-too-human grown-up U S O entertainer (like so many one-time movie stars), arrives at his birthplace with pockets full of U S dollars and cigarettes and dreams about America, where anyone can become a millionaire. Once easy prey for wicked foxes and donkey-boys, Pinocchio is still a gullible naïf, and he is soon easily victimized by various villagers. But underneath his easygoing exterior, he's also a dark and frightening figure capable, it is implied, of cruel violence. The script's peak is a long monologue in which Pinocchio tells a village girl about the American dream: becoming a millionaire. All you need is to be ruthless, dishonest, and hardworking. Pinocchio's lecture includes tips on working the night shift (so you can sleep when no one's looking), loan-sharking, cutthroat business practices, secret takeovers, and insurance fraud. This information is delivered with good-natured casualness as Pinocchio sweeps a barroom floor to pay off his debt--except, we notice, he doesn't really do any work, but spends all his time spinning his vision of success American-style...a study in ironic contrast between the surface brightness of Pinocchio's image and the underlying darkness of his reality." Albert Williams, Chicago Reader
"Nelson's brief play takes place in a tiny Italian village after the Allied victory in World War II. This village is the birthplace of Pinocchio, the puppet who became a real boy--a fact advertised on a huge billboard decorated with the toy boy's famous smiling face. But the billboard is dilapidated and defaced now; and the pretty town we remember from the opening frames of Walt Disney's movie has become a cesspool of corruption and poverty. Geppetto has been knocked off by black marketeers; Jiminy Cricket is squashed by a bored townsperson before our eyes; theft, abortion, and murder are common occurrences. Pinocchio, now an all-too-human grown-up U S O entertainer (like so many one-time movie stars), arrives at his birthplace with pockets full of U S dollars and cigarettes and dreams about America, where anyone can become a millionaire. Once easy prey for wicked foxes and donkey-boys, Pinocchio is still a gullible naïf, and he is soon easily victimized by various villagers. But underneath his easygoing exterior, he's also a dark and frightening figure capable, it is implied, of cruel violence. The script's peak is a long monologue in which Pinocchio tells a village girl about the American dream: becoming a millionaire. All you need is to be ruthless, dishonest, and hardworking. Pinocchio's lecture includes tips on working the night shift (so you can sleep when no one's looking), loan-sharking, cutthroat business practices, secret takeovers, and insurance fraud. This information is delivered with good-natured casualness as Pinocchio sweeps a barroom floor to pay off his debt--except, we notice, he doesn't really do any work, but spends all his time spinning his vision of success American-style...a study in ironic contrast between the surface brightness of Pinocchio's image and the underlying darkness of his reality." Albert Williams, Chicago Reader
The Return Of Pinocchio
56
The Return Of Pinocchio
56Paperback
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780881457179 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Broadway Play Publishing, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 11/22/2017 |
| Pages: | 56 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.12(d) |