‘The Greatest Liar in all the World’ performed by the Carmarthenshire based company, Familia De La Noche, take the story of Pinocchio, after becoming a real boy. Conrad Sharp, playing the older Pinocchio looks back on his life with grievance. Throughout his life he’s told lies to get him out of trouble and now his last request is to tell the truth, the story of his past. This is a well thought out story that merges farcical tales with romance, truth with pain. They use a variety of different arts such as puppetry, physical theatre, clowning and live music. Each craft, perfect for the story line making their work unique and immersive.
This highly comedic play has touching moments that emphasise the pain of Pinocchio’s past and his search for the one he loves. These moments are so contrasting with the comedy before hand, that it moves the audience so much more. The skilful Dot Cotton whom dances with such elegance is entrancing to watch. She is accompanied by a simplistic but highly emotive piano melody performed by Max Runham, a wiz with all things musical. He knows exactly how to create the perfect tune to accompany with the action on stage. However, the highly emotive section would be Conrad Sharp’s monologue and the very end scene, the unexpected heart-wrenching twist. Truly outstanding to say the least. After being through a journey with them, learning about his true life, this thought-provoking twist was a beautiful end to a magnificent piece of theatre.
This story, perfect for all ages captures the beauty within many forms of acting. Their high level of talent and the imagery they are able to produce makes it spell binding performance. I’m excited to see what they produce next.