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Who is this Pinocchio that Joel Pommerat has dreamt of and that is first and foremost, a play for children ? A startled, naive and thrilled young boy - and as a consequence, someone who is fully ensconced in « a theatrical state of being ». All around Pinocchio, the hero of a sweet, musical celebration, the scenic landscape that Pommerat has created (he has just received the Dramatic Literature prize for his most recent play, Les Marchands), is closer in spirit to the enchantment of the Grand Meaulnes, than that of Collodi's Italy. Pinocchio plays off the contrast between the serious austerity of « the real », and the luxury of phantasmagoria. Freely adapted from the original, this Pinocchio, where childhood imagination is measured up against the harshness of the adult world, begins with « the questions of paternity and poverty ». Can one release someone from the debt of a « life » ? How does one become an adult while staying free ?
Joel Pommerat doesn't know if children ask themselves such questions in these terms. But ever since he created Little Red Riding Hood for them, he enjoys stories where these questions are raised, and he knows that they can captivate children's attention.