Artsadmin

Skip links

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

The Making of Pinocchio

Cade & MacAskill

There are two people facing each other against a fake wooden backdrop, wearing fake wooden outfits with real wooden appendages, which are joined at the nose
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’. 

Nominated for the Off West End Awards’ Best IDEA Production (IDEA: Innovative / Devised / Experiential / Atypical)

★★★★ ‘The wondrous trans tale of Pinocchio… A funny, clever and thoughtful two-hander, rich in playful imagery and direct-to-camera asides, about identity, definition and acceptance… The satire is gentle, but the politics are clear.’

 The Guardian

★★★★ ‘More than anything, The Making of Pinocchio testifies to an evolving, continually transforming love between partners, a love for making things and oneself.’ 

The Stage

The Making of Pinocchio is also available for digital touring. Find out more about the The Making of Pinocchio: Digital Edition.

‘The duo hold the audience with a brand of mischievous humour that’s provocative and reassuring in equal measure.’

Exeunt

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, full aesthetic worlds on stage, with unique sonic elements embedded into their work due to ongoing collaboration with sound artist and designer Yas Clarke.

They are both experienced facilitators and trained volunteers with LGBT Youth (Glasgow). They are currently in the process of setting up a co-operative to open a new LGBTQIA+ secondhand shop / community space in Glasgow.

www.cademacaskill.com

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


Produced by Artsadmin.


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.

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
Cinematographer: Kirstin McMahon and Jo Hellier
Produced by Dr. Nora Laraki for Artsadmin
Creation produced by Mary Osborn for Artsadmin
Production Manager: Sorcha Stott-Strzala
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

For more information on this project, please contact Nora Laraki at nora@artsadmin.co.uk

 

 

Date Title Venue City
1–10 November 2023 The Making of Pinocchio Battersea Arts Centre Battersea Arts Centre, London
24–25 October 2023 The Making of Pinocchio Muffathalle SPIELART Festival, Munich
27–28 September 2023 The Making of Pinocchio Künstlerhaus Mousonturm Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt
13–16 September 2023 The Making of Pinocchio Brisbane Powerhouse Brisbane Festival
1–2 July 2023 The Making of Pinocchio Festival Theaterformen, Hannover
25–27 May 2023 The Making of Pinocchio Festival TransAmériques, Montréal
10–11 May 2023 The Making of Pinocchio Auawirleben Theaterfestival, Bern
14–15 April 2023 The Making of Pinocchio Sophiensæle Sophiensæle, Berlin
12–13 November 2022 The Making of Pinocchio Alkantara Festival, Lisbon
28 October 2022 The Making of Pinocchio Tramway, Glasgow
19–20 October 2022 The Making of Pinocchio ACCA, Brighton
12–13 October 2022 The Making of Pinocchio Fierce Festival, Birmingham
29 June – 2 July 2022 The Making of Pinocchio Battersea Arts Centre, as part of LIFT 2022 London
12–14 May 2022 The Making of Pinocchio Kampnagel Hamburg
4 March 2022 The Making of Pinocchio: Digital Edition Warehouse9 Copenhagen
21 May 2021 The Making of Pinocchio Take Me Somewhere
21–22 February 2015 Walking: Holding Home and Away - London, Maison Folie Mons
There are two people facing each other against a fake wooden backdrop, wearing fake wooden outfits with real wooden appendages, which are joined at the nose
Photo by Tiu Makkonen
Rosana Cade, a non-binary person with short hair, looks into the audience from a dark stage. Rosana wears a fake wooden outfit and holds a microphone
Cade & MacAskill, The Making of Pinocchio. Photo by Christa Holka
Two people in fake wooden outfits, in a film studio setup made of wood, sit on deck chairs and face a person with a camera for a head
Cade & MacAskill, The Making of Pinocchio. Photo by Christa Holka
Silhouettes of two people performing against a red backdrop
Cade & MacAskill, The Making of Pinocchio. Photo by Tiu Makkonen
two people with wood textured costumes on and wooden sticks stand and lie on the floor
Cade & MacAskill, The Making of Pinocchio. Photo by Tiu Makkonen
Person sits on the floor with a party hat on, whilst another person, closer to photographer hovers over the person on the floor
Cade & MacAskill, The Making of Pinocchio. Photo by Tiu Makkonen
Top