Artsadmin

Skip links

  1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to search

The Making of Pinocchio

Cade & MacAskill

Photo by Tiu Makkonen

A true tale of love and transition told through the story of Pinocchio.

Set in a fictional film studio, you are invited to go behind the scenes of Cade & MacAskill’s creative process and their relationship, and question what it takes to tell your truth. Artists and lovers Rosana Cade and Ivor MacAskill have been creating The Making of Pinocchio since 2018, alongside and in response to Ivor’s gender transition. In this ‘funny, clever and thoughtful two-hander, rich in playful imagery’ (The Guardian) their tender and complex autobiographical experience meets the magical story of the lying puppet who wants to be a ‘real boy’.

With an 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 show constantly shifts between fantasy and authenticity, humour and intimacy, on stage and on screen. 

This “ravishingly beautiful’ (The Arts Desk) show is for anyone seeking to explore the sheer joy and limitless potential of queer imagination. Audiences called it ‘unmissable’, ‘breath-taking’, ‘phenomenal’, ‘showstopping’ and ‘the queer love story of the year’. 

Part of The International Festival of Contemporary Theatre Homo Novus.

Cade & MacAskill are Rosana Cade (they/them) and Ivor MacAskill (he/him): renowned queer artists and facilitators based in Glasgow, Scotland. Their work, together and individually, straddles the worlds of experimental contemporary theatre, live art, queer cabaret, film, children’s performance, site specific, and socially engaged practices.

Their collaboration is born from a shared love of subversive humour, experimentation with persona and text, playful theatricality, and the joy they find in improvising together. They also share a passion for LGBTQIA+ rights and culture. They create strange, rich aesthetic worlds on stage, with unique sonic elements embedded into their work due to ongoing collaboration with sound artist and designer Yas Clarke.

Includes loud music and moments of complete darkness. Contains references to transphobia and cis perspectives on trans lives and bodies. Care support will be available—check with the Homo Novus team. Relaxed performance; audience may come and go as needed. Suitable for 14+ audience.

Language
English. With English and Latvian subtitles

Created by: Rosana Cade & Ivor MacAskill

Performed by: Rosana Cade, Ivor MacAskill, Jo Hellier & Tim Spooner

Set, Prop & Costume Designer: Tim Spooner

Sound Designer: Yas Clarke

Cameras: Jo Hellier

Lighting Designer: Jo Palmer

Relighting: PJ Davy 

Company Manager: An* Neely

Cinematographer: Kirstin McMahon and Jo Hellier

Produced by: Artsadmin

Performer/Costumes: Moa Johansson

AV/ Sound&Show Operation: Riwa Saab

Outside Eye: Nic Green

Movement advisor: Eleanor Perry

Captioning: Collective Text; Emilia Beatriz, Daniel Hughes with Rosana Cade, Yas Clarke, Ivor MacAskill, and Jamie Rea

Commissioned by: Fierce Festival, Kampnagel, Tramway & Viernulvier with support from Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, Battersea Arts Centre, LIFT and Take Me Somewhere.

Funded by: Creative Scotland, Arts Council England and Rudolf Augstein Stiftung with development support from The Work Room/Diane 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.

For full access information please visit Homo Novus Festival’s website

Date and time

3–4 September 2025
8.30–10pm

Please note
This is now a past event.

Venue

Latvian Academy of Culture
Miera street, Small hall Miera iela 58A Rīga
Rīga
Latvia
Latvia

Top