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Experiencing Pinocchio

How to understand the created authentic experience of a fairytale story?

Master thesis

Master Art, Media & Society

Tilburg University

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. O.M. Heynders

August, 2016

by

G.M.A. Nieuwenhuizen

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Table of Contents 3

Welcome to the show 5 Introduction

Tied to strains 10

Theoretical Framework

The Italian Marionette 33 Collodi’s Pinocchio

The Adventures of the Visitors 42

Analysis Pinocchio musical Efteling Theatre

A „real‟ Experience 70 Conclusion

Learned the lesson? 74

Application

References 79

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ar, far away in

Orlando, Florida,

Great magical days are

waiting for you.

The moment you walk

through the broken wall,

You feel the magic happen.

Tasting magical candy from

the Weasly twins,

Taking a look at the book

of Gilderoy Lockhart,

Choosing your magic want

at Ollivanders:

You know you are part of the

Wizarding World of Harry Potter

5

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1 | Introduction

1.1 | Introduction

Like many others, my mother told fairytales before I went to bed, as a child. The story of

Snow White was one of my favourites. Intently I listened to every word spoken by my

mother’s voice. I remember the mean stepmother who poisoned the beautiful young girl

and of course the handsome prince who kissed Snow White back to life. Spoiler alert? No.

Fairytales like Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs are quite familiar all over the world, and many

people know how stories like these end. Mere in the Netherlands, many people have seen

the movies made by Walt Disney Animation Studios or have visit ‘Het Sprookjesbos’ (The

Fairytale Forest) in the Efteling. These are two examples of companies or theme parks that

created a multimedia experience based on an existing fairytale story, and there are a lot of

different versions and experiences of the story of Snow White all over the world. This leads

to an underlying fundamental question: How is it possible to create a unique experience

based on an authentic version of a well-known story?

I believe we live in a generation targeting at experience. The fast and online culture

makes us ‘spoiled’: we are able to see and hear everything and if we don’t know something,

we’ll look it up. During travelling and visiting great places, people post it online en let other

people experience it with them. Sometimes even at the same time. We all have seen and

heard a lot. This makes it more difficult for creators to evolve an authentic and unique

experience.

In addition, the retelling of familiar stories happens all over the world, making it

difficult to be unique. Think about attractions in theme parks or remakes of movies. I have

chosen to focus on a retelling of a well-known story close to home. From the visitor’s

perspective, this thesis studies the experience of the Efteling fairytale musical Pinocchio.

1.2. | Experience

People have their own ideas and thoughts about a familiar story. To create an authentic

version, the retriever needs to experience something unique; something they didn’t

experience before. For me, an authentic experience is when the retriever is captured and

involved from the beginning of the story until it ends. This thesis is rooted in the

understanding that such an experience is created when the retriever of the story

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experiences the feeling he really is involved in the world where the story takes place (Like in

the Wizarding Wold of Harry Potter). He understands the authenticity of the story by being

alienated from his daily life and transcended of himself through the sensation.

An experience is not only formed by the story itself: The retriever as a person and his

own ideas and motivations are part of it. Because a fairytale is most commonly known,

people have their own ideas and knowledge. One will know how it ends; the other is more

interested in the meaning of the story. Besides, every person has his own prior experiences.

It is possible someone never read the story of Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs. This person will

have a different experience when visiting the attraction of the story in Disneyland for

example than someone who did read about the beautiful girl.

Most of the time, when you visit a cultural institution, like a museum, concert or

theatre, you are not alone, but part of a social group. Within this group, every individual has

his own ideas and behaviours, but the whole group also expresses collective values. All of

these elements influence the experience of the retriever.

A story can be told in many ways: From a reading aloud from a book or paintings on

the wall to a performance on stage. Every way of telling has its own physical elements

influencing the experience. Are you at home when someone reads from a book or are you at

a train station? Is the theatre play performed inside a theatre or outside on the streets? It is

all something to think about when creating an authentic experience.

1.3 | Design

The understanding of this thesis is that a lot of different contexts are important when

creating an authentic experience. Some elements of the experience are formed by the

creators themselves, while other elements are related to the individual. In Chapter 2, the

concept of experience will be discussed. Experience is created by the prior knowledge and

personal ideas of the retriever, influences from in- and outside the social group and the

physical elements. These personal, social and physical contexts will be explained with the

use of the Contextual Model of Experience by Falk & Dierking (2013).

The kind of experience this thesis is looking for is an authentic experience: The

moment the visitor completely understands the authentic story and believes he’s part of the

fantasised world. According to Ankersmit (2007), this is when the individual experiences a

historical sensation. All prior ideas and knowledge is scrapped off to understand the

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authentic story. One way to accomplish this is giving the visitor the opportunity to use his

imagination and be alienated from everyday life.

The story of Pinocchio is written by the Italian writer Carlo Collodi in 1883 and will be

analysed in Chapter 3. The book is a bundle full of small stories about a wooden marionette

that turns out to be alive. The complete narrative focuses on the education of a child in the

19th century who is not allowed to lie and needs to listen to his own conscience and to the

ones giving advice. Every later version is in some way based on this original story.

By the time we get to Chapter 4, it is time to analyse all the data collected during

three visits to the Pinocchio musical. The experience of three different social groups (young

girls, students and adults) has been measured with the use of participating observation, an

ethnographic research technique. On the basis of the theoretical frame, I formed a

hypothetical model of the experience of the visitors. On the basis of this model and the

results of the analysis, the musical experience created by the Efteling Theatre can be

explained, developing a new model.

On top, I already used the created experience model in practise. This study is not

limited to one musical. There are more musicals about well-known stories on which the

results of this thesis can be applied.

1.4 | Case Study

This thesis is about the story of Pinocchio told at the Efteling Theatre. The people who visited

the Efteling before know this theme park never had an attraction about Pinocchio. Since the

beginning of 2016, the Fairytale Forest was expanded with the house of carpenter Geppetto

and the Big Fish that ate Geppetto and Pinocchio. (Story will be explained later in this

project).

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Figure 1. Copy of picture Pinocchio in Big Fish. Retrieved from https://www.eftepedia.nl/lemma/Pinokkio

This addition to the Fairytale Forest was accompanied with the fairytale musical Pinocchio,

performed at the Efteling Theatre.

The Efteling is a fairytale theme park for the whole

family. The park includes attractions like the ‘Python’ and ‘De

Baron’ focusing on the older members, while the young visitors

amuse oneself in the ‘Fairytale Forest’ and the ‘Carnaval

Festival’. The park kept developing and since 2002 the

Efteling opened the doors of her own theatre. Musicals like

‘Sound of Music’, ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Annie’ are already

performed. In the end of 2015 the Pinocchio musical premiered.

It’s a story about the marionette Pinocchio, created by the carpenter Geppetto,

experiencing dangerous adventures, because he didn’t listen to his father or Fay the Fairy.

Geppetto always wanted a son and Pinocchio wants to become a real boy. The only way to

become real, he needs to behave and listen. He must not tell lies, otherwise his nose will

grow.

For now, there is only one thing left to say:

Welcome to the Pinocchio experience!

Please turn off your phone. It is not allowed to make photo- and film material during the

show. O yes, it is also not allowed to lie during the show. Have fun!”

Figure 2. Carnaval Festival. Retrieved from https://www.efteling.com/nl/park/attracties/carn

aval-festival

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2. | Theoretical framework

2.1 | Introduction

This project is about the experience of the visitors of the Efteling musical Pinocchio. The

main focus is on what recipients think, feel and go through when entering the theatre,

watching, listening and ‘enclosing’ the music, the story and performance. Thus, I’m exploring

the complete experience, from the beginning to the end. In consequence, the fundamental

question is: What does ‘experience’ mean in regard to musical performance? A musical

experience is a way of transcending yourself from daily life while at the same time

understanding ‘the authenticity’ of a story (Nahm, 2011). The experience is always fuelled by

social, personal and physical elements. In order to analyse experiences, I will use the theory

of Dutch philosopher Frank Ankersmit (2007) on the ‘historical experience’. I re-use his

concept ‘historical sensation’ in order to point at the authentic experience of a musical: the

story as performance. My presupposition is that the story of Pinocchio is a well known story,

and most musical visitors will know this story beforehand. In the context of the musical

experience, however, the story will develop, become different, and even though it is

familiar, lead to ‘new’ individual experiences. An individual may be able to experience the

moment of historical sensation when he releases himself from his daily life and understands

the authenticity of the story. The musical experience is not only shaped by the personal

frame of the individual visitor, it will be influenced by the cultural context as well. In order to

understand why people go to cultural institutions, how they act and what they take away

from these experiences, John Falk and Lynn Dierking (2013) developed the Conceptual

Model of Learning which includes three relevant contexts: Personal, Social and Physical.

Their theory in relation to Ankersmit’s will form the theoretical frame of my thesis.

But first I will briefly address to another issue: the Efteling characterises the musical

of Pinocchio as a ‘fairytale’ musical. This, obviously, has to do with the fact that the Efteling

considers and manifests herself as ‘fairytale theme park’. But I’m not sure if fairytale is the

correct designation. A fairytale is a strict format: the characters are situated in an imaginary

adventure, after an extraordinary event and often a quest, the protagonist will live happily

ever after. A fairytale is a template, whereas a ‘fantasy story’ is more flexible and leaves

more room for the imagination of the percipient. In regard to musical performance,

challenging the visitor to respond, a ‘fairytale’ is less encouraging than a fantasy story. Will

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this framing of the story as a fairytale by the Efteling, beforehand influence the experience

of the visitor?

In addition, the famous story is told within a musical performance. Obviously, this is

different from reading it from a book. The concept of performance will be explained, using

Erika Fischer-Lichte (n.d.), which contributes to the complete experience, because of the use

of music and the atmosphere. At the end of this chapter, the theoretical framework is

complete.

Drawing on Ankersmit and Falk & Dierking, the main question of this thesis will be:

How does the Efteling Theatre create the full Pinocchio musical experience, viewed from the

visitor’s perspective?

My hypothesis is that this experience is formed at four layers: imagination, performance,

authentic story and the Personal, Social & Physical contexts. These layers lead to the

formulation of the following sub-questions discussed in the following paragraphs:

1. The story of Pinocchio is told within a performance. How is the performance effective

in regard to the experience?

2. How does the performance effect the imagination of the spectator?

3. Pinocchio is a known story by many people. The first version is written in 1883. Is it

possible for the visitor to experience the authentic story, and in what way could this

be made possible?

4. How are personal, social and physical contexts relevant to the experience?

2.2 | Terminology of fantasy

“Once upon a time...” This is the famous opening phrase of almost every fairytale, used in

books and movies. The narrator brings you to a place of which you don’t know where and in

a time you don’t know when. You already know how the story will end: they will live happily

ever after. This strict format is a way to recognize a story as a fairytale. A fairytale is a short

imaginary narrative that focuses on the act (agency) of the character (Joosen & Vloeberghs,

2012). The flat characters of a fairytale mostly remain in the environment of the forest or

castle in a land far, far away. Time and space are beyond our reach.

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If you want to read an imaginary narrative focussing on the development of the main

character, you should read a fantasy story. The locations are not limited, in fact, within a

fantasy, tricks are used to map the complete imaginary world. Next to the many places, the

characters also travel between different worlds, while the location and time of a fairytale

cover just one dimension. In the end the characters of the fairytale will live happily ever

after, while a fantasy story doesn’t give a solution or recovery (Joosen & Vloeberghs, 2012).

“Every fairytale is a fantasy story,

but not every fantasy story is a fairytale”

Fantasy and fairytales are closely related, but are not totally the same. Every fairytale is a

fantasy story, but not every fantasy story is a fairytale. Both fantasy stories and fairytales are

narratives addressing to complex subjects, but a difference can be detected in the way these

subjects are revealed. Within a fantasy, the trick is to find a parallel between the different

worlds the characters go to. In addition, as a reader you can decode similarities between the

worlds in the story and the world outside the book, the one you live in (Joosen &

Vloeberghs, 2012). Every reader can detect different elements, because some are more

valuable than others and this is different for each person. In regard to fantasy stories people

need to use their own imagination to understand and thus construct the story. By looking

beyond reality, using imagination, percipients can create an authentic experience. In the

case of Pinocchio, the authentic story is about the way of raising a child within the 19th

century context. The world nowadays is different from two centuries ago. The musical is in

some way based on that 19th century reality, which stimulates imagination, and invites the

audience to go beyond current reality, in order to understand the ‘original’ story.

A fairytale is an escape to simpler, older periods and moves beyond the boundaries of reality

(Joosen & Vloeberghs, 2012). In contrast to fantasy stories, a fairytale allows less

constructive imagination. The story is more fixed. Every fairytale has a basic subject matter,

plot and structure.

What is the consequence of the Efteling’s characterization of the musical as a

fairytale story? One would expect the story doesn’t stimulate imagination and due to the

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fact that a fairytale has no connection to the real world. The hypothesis of this thesis,

however is, that imagination can be fuelled when the musical is seen, heard and experienced

as a fantasy story. Story, music and performance as interrelated spectacle address to the

imagination of the visitor and stimulate him/her to react and experience. Sometimes an

‘authentic experience’ or ‘sensation’ will be established. This thesis investigates how this is

done.

2.3 | Performance culture

Thus, the use of imagination by the visitor can be triggered when the story seems to be

fantasy. The fantasy story of Pinocchio by the Efteling is performed as a musical. The

performance plays an important role in exploring the experience of the visitor. I remember

my mother reading the Pinocchio story to me at bedtime. I listened carefully and loved the

story, but my mother didn’t sing or dance while reading (that would have been a lot of fun).

The Pinocchio musical tells, in a sense, the same story but implements also music,

choreography and acting and as such addresses the senses in a more profound way. One

doesn’t only listen to it, the story is also visualized.

Music, obviously, plays a big role in the musical show. Especially for children, it’s a

way to stimulate their imagination and bring back the memory of the time the mother read

the story, as Nahm (2011) argues.

“The power of music to evoke the past, and to create inner or imagined worlds through

sound, makes it uniquely suited to expressing and attempting to recreate the imaginative

experience of childhood...” (Nahm, 2011, p. 24).

We can’t deny the fact musical is an object of entertainment produced and performed by

adults. However, the story of Pinocchio seems to be written for and about children. At least,

Collodi’s Pinocchio seems to be a book readable to children, because of the opening lines:

“Centuries ago there lived--

"A king!" my little readers will say immediately.

No, children, you are mistaken.”

(Collodi, 1883, p. 5)

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The musical realm contributes to the reconciling of the adult and child’s world (Hoffmann,

1989). The experience of music is a way to replace the adult rationality by the simple,

innocent perspective of the child. It intertwines the past and the present, the natural and

the supernatural.

The performance doesn’t only come into being by the presence of actors, because

performance is an interaction between actors and spectators (Fischer-Lichte, n.d., p. 2). The

visitor will react to the actors and what they do on stage. It can lead to internal, cognitive

reactions, but most of the time the spectator responses can be received by other spectators

and the actors, like giggling, clapping, crying, and so on. The Cat, one of the characters of

Pinocchio, farts a few times. This leads to giggly reactions. Fay the Fairy, actually talks to the

audience and is able to receive the reactions and implement pauses before continuing the

play. Thus, a musical is a participatory project build on action and responses. The actors are

not totally in control of what will happen during the performance. “In the end, all

participants together bring forth the performance (Fischer - Lichte, n.d., p. 3). The visitors of

the Pinocchio musical could possibly experience the feeling of being a subject, who is able to

codetermine the behaviour of others, and whose behaviour is also determined by the actors

and other spectators. Even when you would visit the musical on your own, the performance

is a social process.

Erika Fischer-Lichte (n.d.) explains the concept of ‘performance’ using four arguments. The

first is that the performance is an interactive course, as explained above. The second

argument is about the transitory and spatial character: a performance springs from the ideas

and intentions from several subjects: the mise-en-scène. Every action and movement has

been predetermined and this makes the mise-en-scène reproducible. But the mise-en-scène

alone doesn’t make the performance. The performance also includes any kind of materiality

brought forth in its course, intentionally by the artists (Fischer - Lichte, n.d., p. 4). Every

movement or the way an object is used, by the actor or another spectator, will mean

something to the visitor. This meaning is grounded in the so-called phenomenal body of the

participants. The phenomenal body appears in a particular body and at the same time brings

forth specific meanings. The visitor will see Geppetto open his arms and at the same time

wonder what that movement will mean. A performance is about actions and produced

meanings.

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This second argument also covers the notion of the performative space, producing

spatiality over and over again (Fischer-Lichte, n.d.). Every movement from persons, objects,

lights, sounds and smell contributes to the way the visitor will experience the atmosphere.

The atmosphere is created by the interaction of all these elements. When entering the

auditorium in the Efteling Theatre, the visitor hears joyful Italian music, inviting an

immediate particular experience. Different from when there would be dark gothic music

played or nothing at all. “Usually, these *atmospheres+ are the first which grasps the

spectator/actor, tinges him and thus enables him to a very specific experience of the space.”

(Fischer-Lichte, n.d., p. 5).

The third argument of the concept of performance tells us that a performance

doesn’t transmit prior given meanings (Fischer-Lichte, n.d.). As you might think, the meaning

of the story of Pinocchio is transmitted within the text, but because of the unforeseen

interaction between actors and visitors and the particular atmospheres discussed above,

meaning is not only brought by words. “It is the performance, which brings forth the

meanings that come into being during its course.” (Fischer-Lichte, n.d., p. 8). When an

element, like a tree, appears, the first intention will be: ‘It’s a tree, maybe a forest’. This tree

can receive a different meaning by de representation and the order of associations when the

actors treat the tree as something special: if you put your money under this tree, the golden

pieces will be doubled. That’s when the tree gets its meaning: the tree represents the

complete Miracle Meadow. Another example of making meaning is Pinocchio. As you will

read in Chapter 4, the character of Pinocchio is played by a young boy who is attached to a

life-size puppet of Pinocchio. The first time the young boy appears, the visitor will look at the

young boy. But because all the other actors look at and play with the puppet instead of with

the boy, the puppet gets meaning as being Pinocchio.

The last argument is about the ‘eventness’ of the performance (Fischer-Lichte, n.d.).

The visitor must not see the musical as theatre play, but as an event. A performance will

end, because the interaction ends, and will not exists forward after watching. The

performance as an event entails a specific behaviour and it allows for a particular form of

liminal experience.

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“The performance transfers the spectator into a state which alienates him from his

everyday life, from the norms and rules valid in it, without, however, showing him ways to

find a re-orientation.” (Fischer- Lichte, n.d., p. 12).

This possible transformation is an individual process and only lasts during the performance.

Individual cases could show that a visitor undergoes the experience of destabilization and

will lead to a re-orientation within the perception of reality. I don’t believe that the

Pinocchio musical aims to re-orientation, but the moral of the story is ‘not tell lies’. It would

be great if children would understand this message during such a transformation and will

apply it in real life.

The Pinocchio musical of the Efteling is thus an interaction between the audience and

actors. The used music, the decors, the movements and the atmosphere will help the

spectators to develop a meaning. All these elements will contribute transcending from

everyday life. It’s a different way of transcending than reading a book. While reading, the

reader needs to ‘do it’ himself, while the music and actors of a musical are a means to help

the retriever.

Fisher-Lichte didn’t discuss the moment before the actual performance: waiting in

the lobby. As you will notice within the theory of Falk & Dierking (2013), discussed later in

this chapter, every moment and place contributes to the complete experience. First, I will

focus on the transcendence of daily life through historical sensation.

2.4 | Historical sensation

A musical implies story, music and visualisations. In this way, the visitor is able to hear and

see the story. My claim is, that the combination of hearing and seeing a story is the best way

to experience the sensation of the story of Pinocchio; it is the best way to explore the

‘authentic’ story within the musical (Ankersmit, 2007).

In order to understand the experiences of listening to music, watching the actors and

experiencing the atmosphere, I will use Frank Ankersmit’s theory on the historical sensation.

This theory was not focussing on musical performances at all, but points at some relevant

ideas and perceptions that can be observed when analyzing the Pinocchio musical

experience.

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“...an immediate understanding of the painting in its time”

Experiencing a historical sensation is the moment an artefact has been stripped of its

pronounced image. Like Snow White, Pinocchio is a story that could be known by many

people. Especially the version of Disney is seen or read by a lot of child and adult visitors.

Most members of the audience of the musical already know what the story is about: the

wooden boy whose nose grows when he lies. This prior knowledge doesn’t have to be a bad

thing, but because of the already known information, an interpretation layer exists; people

already have an idea about the story before visiting the musical. As we know, an

interpretation is a subjective activity; everyone has his/her own ideas about the story. In the

case of Pinocchio, this interpretation layer is developed by previous introduction with the

wooden boy by media like film or TV or stories from friends. It is also possible that the

viewer never heard the story of Pinocchio. In that case there would be a different

interpretation possible and a different experience evoked.

Ankersmit (2007) points at the sensation of seeing and experiencing an artefact for

the first time. This moment is actually getting beyond reality and develops the

understanding of the authenticity. To develop this idea, he refers to an anecdote on

historian Johan Huizinga, who visited a famous painting by Van Eyck in Bruges, and suddenly

understood what the medieval painting was about;

“Scrapping, in fact, took place when Huizinga in 1902, during the visit with his friend

André Jolles to the exhibition in Bruges, lived his historical experience of late,

northwest European Middle Ages. His historical experience cut through all the (art)

historical interpretation layers which were inscribed during the centuries, on the

surface of these paintings, and as a varnish yellowed by time itself obscured the

coating of the past.”

(Ankersmit, 2007, p. 123)

The idea is that Huizinga entered an authentic experience of the painting, scraping off all

layers of interpretation and explanation that were applied to the painting in time. The

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historical sensation brought him, so to say, to the core of the painting. He had an immediate

understanding of the painting in its time.

We can transpose this idea to the story of Pinocchio. The first version of Pinocchio is

written by the Italian writer Carlo Collodi in 1883: it is the story of a ‘living’ piece of wood

turned into a marionette by the woodcutter Geppetto. This piece of wood becomes alive

and the minute Geppetto finishes the legs, it storms off and runs away, like a cheeky boy.

Through the whole story Pinocchio doesn’t listen to his ‘father’ and other wisely people and

animals. He continuously ends up in dangerous and scary situations. In the end Pinocchio

realises he needs to behave and take care of Geppetto in order to become a real and

civilized boy.

Every later version is somehow based on the first Pinocchio of Collodi. For example

the Walt Disney version: using his own ideas, Disney created his ‘own’ Pinocchio (Walt

Disney Production, May 2013). Disney wanted Pinocchio to look more like a boy in

comparison with earlier illustrations of Enrico Mazzanti, the first illustrator of Pinocchio

(Pizzi, 2012). The version of Disney will shortly be explained in Chapter 3.

Figure 3. Figure 4.

Even though Disney had his own ideas and created a new version, his Pinocchio story

contains historical context because it is in some way based on the book from the 19th

Pinocchio illustrated by Enrico Mazzanti. Copy retrieved from

https://www.bol.com/nl/p/pinocchio-vollstandige-deutsche-illustrierte-ausgabe/9200000033053020/

Disney Pinocchio. Copy retrieved from http://www.disneyinfo.nl/cddetail.php?film

=184

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century. The historical context shows the ideas about that age. These ideas are about raising

a child, the way people live and so on, but are placed in a Twentieth century approach by

Disney.

Every version, following that of Collodi’s, contains part of the history of Pinocchio

plus specific ideas of the creators. People will talk about new creations and especially today,

within the digitalized world, people can search for reviews and other information about

particular Pinocchio versions, which makes it harder to know and understand the authentic

story of Pinocchio. Drawing on Ankersmit, I would argue that a historical sensation can only

be experienced when the visitor experiences the story of the wooden boy like it is the first

time (Ankersmit, 2007). In that way the ‘authenticity’ of the story can be revealed. This is the

moment the visitor will merge into the showed adventures of Pinocchio, and becomes part

of the story. Every piece of the puzzle will fall into place. Hearing and seeing the story, the

music, images and actors, will create a historical sensation in which the visitor reaches and

understands the authentic story.

Let me explain a bit more on this complex process. The historical experience is a conjunction

between past and present. The visitor needs to step out of oneself and reach into the past

(Ankersmit, 2007). The past is an entirety of complex wholes and the visitor needs to explore

the boundary between the past and himself. According to Johan Huizinga, the historian who

inspired Ankersmit in his expose on the sublime sensation, historical experience is the

response of the ‘historian’ to the call of the past (Ankersmit, 2007). “Within the historical

experience ‘contact’ between the historian and the past exists...” (Ankersmit, 2007, p. 120).

The interaction between the subject and the past is crucial within the concept of the

historical experience. It’s about aiming at the elementary and basal of the historical

experience which will somehow lead to abstraction and intellectual speculation. The musical

of Pinocchio shows an Italian village and the clothes of the actors, do not refer to the fashion

of today. These kinds of elements remind us that the story being offered also includes some

elements of the earlier Italian story. The visitor won’t be aware of the historical sensation as

a manner of reliving, but as a manner of immediate understanding.

Until now I only spoke of historical sensation, but there are three levels of contact

with reality which can be experienced by each visitor: observation, impression and sensation

(Ankersmit, 2007, p. 126). Ankersmit refers to 19th century Dutch writer Lodewijk van

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Deyssel who believed in a continuous line of sensory to supernatural experience (Kemperink,

2009). Observation is the objective interest we have in reality. This is based on previous

information from other resources and will lead to normal, ordinary memories. A bigger

intimacy with reality is caused by the impression-level. The visitor forms an ‘impression’ of

the performance, thus an idea what it means to him/her. The last level in this line is about

the state of mind. Sensation is the most intimate contact with reality we can experience

when looking at the musical (Ankersmit, 2007). Within this intense perception, the object

(the musical) and the subject (the visitor) are in balance. According to Van Deyssel, the aim

of art should be: giving a sensation of the reality. Translating this to the musical experience,

every visitor will experience contact with reality on a different level. When a visitor doesn’t

open up to the story, he will never experience an intimate contact between history and

reality. Performance itself contributes to the state of mind of the visitor, alienating him from

his everyday life (Fischer-Lichte, n.d., p. 12). The use of music, the interaction between

actors and other spectators and the atmospheres influence the state of mind of the visitor,

which contribute to the experienced sensation. Of course, this thesis is focusing on the

sensation as more than just an historical observation. In the musical experience, more

sensations are combined. In Chapter 4 I will discuss if and how such a sensation is

established.

As we have discussed so far, the historical experience is about scrapping off the

interpretation layers and looking at the musical as if it is the first time being watched,

without using any background knowledge. Scrapping off interpretative contexts is a way of

transcending oneself to the authenticity of the story and the ‘new’ experience of the

performance. In this way one is able to intertwine the past and present. Historical

experience is all about ‘decontextualisation’, as Ankersmit has emphasized. If you want to

experience the past within the story, you need to close yourself off from the context. But we

can’t deny the fact that most of the visitors already have seen or heard (something of) the

Pinocchio story. Instead of completely deny the already known information, there is a way to

use it in exploring the visitor’s experience: The Contextual Model of Learning of Falk &

Dierking (2013) is of help on this point. Instead of decontextualising, this theory includes all

possible contexts within the experience.

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2.5 | Three contexts before, during and after the visit

About 1992, John Falk and Lynn Dierking visited a few museums and explored the perception

of the visitors. They tried to understand why people go to museums, what they do there,

and how they make meaning from these experiences (Falk & Dierking, 1992). They

developed a model as a way to think about making sense of the complexity of the museum

visitor experience: this was coined the Interactive Experience Model. Later they renamed the

model the ‘Contextual Model of Learning’ (Figure 5). It is a guide for the way of working and

thinking about the complex intersection between people and museums (Falk & Dierking,

2013).

Figure 5. The Contextual Model of Learning by Falk & Dierking. Copy retrieved from The Museum Experience Revisited, Falk & Dierking (2013), p. 26

Falk and Dierking use the term ‘museum’ as a collective name for a wide range of free-

choice/informal educational institutions, including art, history, children’s museums, zoo’s,

interpretive sites like national parks, visitors centres, and so on. The Efteling musical as a

free-choice cultural institution is a way of showing a piece of history by using a form of art,

popular culture and entertainment. The visitor is able to listen and look at the story and use

his own background knowledge. Musical theatres are places for social interaction and

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enjoyment. The framework of experience explains three contexts, which are also

recognisable when you would visit the Pinocchio musical.

The challenge of Falk and Dierking is to explore why people go to museums, what they do

there and how they make meaning of these experiences (2013). These three questions are

considered during the totality of the experience: from the moment someone starts thinking

of going to the museum, the visit itself and the recollection of the experience some time

later. This can be days, weeks, and even years after. Within every period three contexts can

be explored: Personal, Social and Physical. Although I will discuss each context separately, in

reality they always interact and connect with each other. Because of this interaction, the

museum / musical experience can only be partially understood and only partially controlled,

like any complex system. I will discuss the musical experience in the same order it will

appear: before, during and after the visit, exploring the relevant contexts within each phase.

2.5.1 | Before the visit

a. Personal context

Every visitor is different, with regard to background knowledge, interests, previous visits,

and so on. This context also includes differences in attitudes and motivations for visiting.

“Personal context variables enable us to recognize and understand many of the differences

we observe in who does and does not visit the museum, as well as how visitors behave and

learn when they do.” (Falk & Dierking, 2013, p. 27). The personal variables like interests and

previous experiences contribute to the understanding of how and why visitors develop

specific personal narratives, narratives that support memories of the visit.

The moment the musical experience begins, I argue following Falk and Dierking, is when a

person starts thinking of going to the musical performance. One fundamental questions

appear (Falk & Dierking, 2013):

- Why would a person choose to visit the musical during his leisure time as opposed to

engaging in some other type of leisure experience?

This question needs to be answered from the visitor’s perspective. When someone wants to

visit a musical, he sets a goal: satisfying his own personal, identity-related needs and

24

interests. When the visitor, or someone within his group of friends/family has the desire to

satisfy his/her needs and the visitor or someone in the group recalls that the musical might

be a good way to satisfy them, the potential for visiting the musical arises. In this project, I

invited a few people to visit the musical. So, I was the one who set the experience in motion.

Of course I asked the participants why they didn’t go the Pinocchio musical before I asked

them. The answers are shown in Chapter 4.

The decision to do something at leisure is always a consideration between the relative costs,

like the investment of time and money (Falk & Dierking, 2013). “How much does the visit

cost?” “Can I get discount?” “How long does it take to get there?” These are the usual

question within the decision period, especially the ones about time. Not only issues about

how long it takes to get to the theatre, but also about parking, unfamiliar areas in the city

are being considered. And of course the issue about the duration of the show: “Is it just one

or takes it three hours?”

Ultimately, everything has a cost, but the leisure decisions are not just based on the

costs, they are equally if not more importantly based on value: “What is the value to me

(and my social group) of (not) visiting?” (Falk & Dierking, 2013). These values are self-

referential. Some prefer to learn something, while others want to know if one is able to buy

something in a gift shop. Maybe sitting for two hours could be uncomfortable, but is it worth

it? Not all of these issues are always consciously considered before the visit, but there

should be at least some benefit when deciding whether or not to go. Like museum visitors,

most of the musical visitors are part of a particular social group, and social benefits are

amongst the strongest motivations for visiting museums (Falk & Dierking, 2013).

Falk & Dierking summed up the responses of visitors to the question ‘Why they visit

museums?’ and ordered them in categories:

1. Social-related reasons

2. Recreational, sight-seeing reasons

3. Learning and personal enrichment-related reasons

4. Hobby and professional interest-related reasons

5. Reverential reasons

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These categories lead to five descriptions of visitor classes about what the public expects

from their museum visit:

Explorers: visitor is curiosity-driven with an interest in the content of the museum.

He hopes to find something that will fuel his curiosity and learning.

Facilitators: visitor is socially motivated and is focused on enabling the learning and

experience of others in his social group.

Professionals/Hobbyists: the professional of hobbyist passion of the visitor seems

closely related to the content of the museum.

Experience Seekers: this kind of visitor is directed by his desire of ‘having been there

and done that’. He sees the museum as an important destination.

Rechargers: this visitor is trying to find a contemplative, spiritual, and/or restorative

experience by being away from the work-a-day world or as a confirmation of his

religious beliefs.

Within the last twenty years Falk & Dierking (2013) discovered some gaps in these

categories, because of the development of museums. They added two new categories of

visitors:

Respectful Pilgrims: the visitor has a sense of duty to visit the museum to honour the

memory of those represented.

Affinity Seekers: this last kind of visitor decides to go because the exhibition speaks

to his sense of heritage and/or Big ‘I’ identity.

These social categories based on identity-related motivations help us to provide insights into

the actual experiences of the visitor. “Each individual’s visit motivation reflects that person’s

perception of what value the museum affords and her perceived needs on that visiting day.”

(Falk & Dierking, 2013, p. 50). Categorization is a means to understand the motivations of

the visitors, but I don’t thing stereotyping people is that easy. It’s not just one or the other.

As you will notice in Chapter 4, not all visitors are ‘just’ explorers or ‘just’ facilitators.

Every visitor has his own expectations about the visit, which are not only based on the

identity-related motivations. Expectations are also shaped by prior experience with musicals

(Falk & Dierking, 2013). The visitor could have visited the same musical or theatre before or

26

other musicals in other theatres, shaping expectations about the Pinocchio musical in the

Efteling. People know what to expect from the theatre, what they like or dislike, if it is

crowded, and so on. Besides, visitors who already know the story of Pinocchio may have an

idea what to expect from the show. Prior experiences not only shape the expectations, but

also shape the behaviour of visitors (Falk & Dierking, 2013). People who already visited the

Efteling Theatre or other theatres know how to behave when they arrive. They will know

where to hang their coats, if they need to wait in the lobby, if there will be a ‘gong’ which

indicates people can turn to their seats, and they will know that the show will start the

minute the lights go down. Thus, prior experiences and the performance itself (Fischer-

Lichte, n.d., p. 11) entail specific behaviour.

So, my argument is that prior knowledge, attitudes, interests, skills and beliefs shape the

reason why people will visit a musical, and also what they do and take away from the

experience (Falk & Dierking, 2013). Sources of prior knowledge are announcements on radio,

television, social media, reviews in papers and word-of-mouth. Especially the word-of-mouth

stories from relatives or friends are a primary way of shaping expectations of the show, even

though you can find a lot on the internet. If a friend likes it, it should be nice. Next to the

prior knowledge, interests of the visitor play an important role in deciding whether or not to

go. These interests are related to the identity-related motivations and are a means of

knowing what to focus on during the show in order to look for the type of experience the

visitor seeks. Dewey (n.d.) argues that the present experience is a function of the interaction

between the present situation and the previous experiences. This is a way of making sense

of what the visitor will see. Layer upon layer, the visitor will make meaning about the

experience. We can add meaning on the right place in the Contextual Model of Learning.

Later in this project it will be clear that none of the contexts function separately; it’s about

the interplay of the Personal, Socio-cultural and Physical context.

27

Figure 6. The Contextual Model of Learning by Falk & Dierking. Copy retrieved from The Museum Experience Revisited, Falk & Dierking (2013), p. 26 (adding by myself)

Until now, I only spoke of why people want to visit a museum/musical, but there is also a

large group of individuals who don’t want to go to such a cultural institution. The question is:

why? The answer lies within the issue about identity-related needs as discussed above.

Some people believe cultural institutions afford benefits like pursuing a hobby or relation to

one’s personal heritage (Falk & Dierking, 2013). Some people don’t believe in this argument.

They don’t think that there is an alignment between a museum or musical and their needs.

Of course, the element of income enters into this issue, because some individuals don’t have

the money to go. Besides, the cultural background is another important fact: maybe you’re

not familiar to visiting museums or musicals, because you didn’t grow up with these kind of

leisure activities.

b. Socio-cultural context

Next to the personal needs of a visitor, there are also the collective needs of communities

and societies (Falk & Dierking, 2013). Think about a school class aiming at education about

culture. Within a visiting social group, individuals still have their own needs and experience

the visit differently from others of the same group. To be more specific, the musical will be

perceived differently by diverse peoples. Every visitor arrives with own expectations about

Meaning

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the visit. These expectations are framed around the identity-related motivations discussed

above, which are framed around the broader socio-cultural perception of the role and value

of museums in society (Falk & Dierking, 2013).

The socio-cultural context is about the co-creators of the musical experience. As I

already pointed out, word-of-mouth from friends is a way to help deciding whether or not to

go to the Efteling Theatre. It also contributes to the unique musical experience. Nowadays,

social media is being used to discuss something you have experienced, like the Pinocchio

musical. In this way, past visitors are co-creators of the musical experience of visitors who

still need to go.

The musical is produced by professionals who have their own ideas and their own

cultural values and biases (Falk & Dierking, 2013). These people make the musical happen

and decide what the visitors will see. The experiences of the visitors can be different from

the values and beliefs of the creators, but sometimes the experiences are consistent. “In

theory, the greater the number of associations and connections, the greater the potential

value to the visitor” (Falk & Dierking, 2013, p. 78). In this way, we can see a musical as an

independent socio-cultural construct shaped from the minds of individuals living within a

community.

Up until now, I only spoke of actually going to the musical: the direct experience. But

people develop their understandings and views about the world through direct and indirect

experience (Falk & Dierking, 2013). This indirect experience is about the conversation people

have with friends about the musical, the way the musical is depicted in the media, thus how

it is perceived by the visitors before the visit. This corresponds to the ideas of the German

sociologist Gerhard Schulze (2000). In the German language, the term ‘experience’ can only

be translated to ‘Erlebnis’, but this refers to the direct experience. It’s individual and sensory.

All related processes, like the conversations and the performance itself, form the Erlebnis of

the Pinocchio musical. The indirect experience, Erfarhrung, refers to the cognitive

experience which leads to memories, skills and understanding. During this thesis we are not

only analysing the direct experience, the Erlebnis, but also the Erfahrung of the Pinocchio

musical. Both ‘experiences’ together will lead to meaning.

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2.5.2 | During the visit

a. Physical context

The phsyical context is about the show and the theatre, and about the interaction with

objects and interpretive materials. This interaction starts the minute the visitor is in front of

the Efteling Theatre. Architecture could be a major factor in remembering the musical.

Every visitor engages with the environment (Falk & Dierking, 2013). In a museum the visitor

is in control of what he will focus on and is affected by the physical context in his own way.

As much as a museum visitor can choose what he will see during an exhibition, as less is the

audience of the musical able to choose between elements of the show. There is only one

stage, and to keep up with the story, the visitor needs to see and hear everything. This

does’t mean the issue of physical elements doesn’t apply in this project, on the contrary. As I

said, the physical context starts the minute the vistor is in front of the building. Waiting in

the lobby is also part of the musical experience and during the cup of tea, the visitor is able

to focus on elements in the foyer. He is affected by the physical context in his own way,

shaped by his personal and socio-cultural contexts. During the show, the visitor doesn’t have

the total control of what he will focus on, but some elements are more valuable than others.

This depends on elements which are more visually attractive than others, some connect with

the prior knowledge and interest. This makes every musical experience unique, even though

every visitor visits the same building and the same show.

“...the specific things a visitor chooses to attend to and the meaning he makes of them

become the museum experience for that visitor” (Falk & Dierking, 2013, p. 105).

b. Socio-cultural context

Most members of the audience going to the Pinocchio musical are part of a social group.

This can be friends, family, colleagues, and so on. In this way the visit becomes a social

experience. This is not only while waiting in the lobby. Most participants talk during a

theatre performance. The social context is about that conversation (Falk & Dierking, 2013).

This social interaction is a way to connect between visitors and find meaning together. Also

30

remember the interaction between actors and spectators, argued by Fischer-Lichte (n.d. ).

Even when you’re alone, a musical performance is always a social experience.

The Efteling is a family theme park; this makes the Efteling Theatre also a family-

focussed institution. Most of the audience members of the Pinocchio musical will be parents

with children, and sometimes friends of the children come along. Family visitors have their

own visit agenda and goals (Falk & Dierking, 2013). “Families spend a majority of their time

in conversation sharing what they know and trying to find out more together.” (Falk &

Dierking, 2013, p. 150). The questions being asked at the beginning of the conversation will

most probably be about specific objects directly in front of them. After a while, the converse

moves to ideas that are distantly related to the object the family first talked about. The

adults of the family can take the role of guide or teacher during the visit, because they want

to make it a ‘learning’ experience for their children.

When visiting the musical within a social group, the behaviour of the individuals is

influenced. Within every group some roles are unconsciously determined. Like the role of

the adult within a family, but also among friends there could be one leader, without even

choosing someone. Every individual has a certain way of behaving among the other

members of the group.

The social experience exists not only within the social group. Social influences outside

the immediate group also contribute to the visitor behaviour. Because the foyer is

overloaded with other people, the visitors will wait and drink a cup of coffee perhaps. When

some visitors start to walk towards the door of the auditorium, others will follow. People

look at other visitors to observe how to behave and what to do.

Within a theatre, staff members from the institution itself are working. There are people

behind the coffee bar selling drinks, at the door welcoming people and people who will hang

coats in the wardrobe. These staff members help to make the experience of the visitor

meaningful (Falk & Dierking, 2013). They positively influence the experience when they are

able to answer questions, give the visitors new information or helping them wherever they

can. The latter are examples of unstructured interactions. Guided tours, small performances

in the lobby, and so on are structured interactions. These kinds of interactions increase the

interactivity and engagement of visitors and help to personalize the experience. Of course

not all interaction with the staff will be positively experienced by all visitors. Some

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individuals don’t want actors around them who try to entertain them or just wants a cup of

coffee without anyone asking him further questions.

c. The interplay of the Contexts

Above, I’ve discussed all contexts within the relevant phase of the musical experience, and

all of these aspects create the personal experience of the visitor. But in order to understand,

the visitor’s experience needs to be seen as a whole, as a gestalt (Falk & Dierking, 2013). This

means that the experience starts from the minute the visitor starts to think of going to the

musical, the information he finds online, his prior knowledge,

and involves as well the whole day at the Efteling Theatre.

Some elements contribute positively to the experience, like an

easy way to park, not much travel time, staff members who

answer all of the questions without being too intrusive. Just

like meeting new people, the first impression is also very

important. This is related to the physical context, in the case

of the Efteling; the big entrance, the House of the Five Senses,

is the first thing the visitor will see. When entering the

theatre, the first visible staff members are communicating the

nature of the Efteling Theatre with the visitor without saying a

word. The way the welcoming group, and the Efteling Theatre has one, is dressed and acting

influences the personal experience of the visitor. When the staff members are calm and

quiet, the visitor expects that should be the way to behave inside the theatre.

The architecture of the theatre could be used to shape

people’s expectations and emotions. This effect is hard

to verify, because it depends on previous experiences.

The lobby could be a big place with a high ceiling, but

when the visitor already visited theatres like that, he is

not impressed. This kind of impression won’t last long in

his memory and won’t contribute within the long term

experience.

Figure 7. House of the Five Senses. Retrieved from

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huis_van_de_Vijf_Zintuigen

Figure 8. Efteling Theatre. Retrieved from http://www.theatersinnederland.nl/efteling-

theater-waalwijk/

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2.5.3 | After the visit

The musical experience doesn’t stop the moment the visitor gets in the car and drives home.

The memory of the experience can last for days, months, even years. “Virtually everyone can

remember at least some part of their (...) experience.” (Falk & Dierking, 2013, p. 199). Once

some elements were laid down, memories of the experience will be strongly held and

durable over a long time. This durability appears when visitors talk about their visit to

others. They talk about the ideas they have about the musical, what they liked or disliked.

During such conversations the visitor is able to think harder about what he has experienced.

Next to rehearsal, new and unusual elements of the experience contribute to the durability

of the memories.

The memories visitors have from the experience tell us something about the three contexts;

personal, socio-cultural and physical (Falk & Dierking, 2013). Elements that will be

remembered are evidence of the specific identity-related motivations discussed earlier.

These motivations also refer to cultural factors. Pinocchio is a known story for many visitors,

who all have their own knowledge and ideas about the wooden boy. The identity-related

motivations and expectations contribute to the memories about the time and place. When a

person expected to have a short visit, but the musical took longer than expected, this will

influence the memory negatively. This is also the case about the architecture of the theatre.

The visitor had his own expectation, but when the building is prettier or more awful than

expected, it will be remembered.

2.5.4 | What’s next

For this research, I asked the participants to go to the Pinocchio musical in the Efteling

Theatre. I have studied the reactions and interactions from the moment I asked them until

the last conversation. In this way, I’m able to analyse the Pinocchio musical experience from

the visitor’s perspective. In the next chapter, I will analyse Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio in order

to understand the original Italian story. Besides, I can’t deny the version of Disney, because

most of the prior knowledge of the participants is formed by the Disney movie.

Subsequently, all collected data will be analysed, leading to a clear view of the Pinocchio

musical experience.

33

34

3 | Collodi’s Pinocchio

3.1 |Introduction

The Pinocchio musical experience is formed by the use of imagination, the performance

itself, the three discussed contexts, and there is a possibility to experience a historical

sensation. This is when the visitors experience the performance like it is the first time, with

no background knowledge or other ideas (Ankersmit, 2007). In this way the authentic story

can be experienced. In order to understand the authenticity of the story, we need to know

what the original story is about. In this chapter I will analyse the original story of Pinocchio,

written by Carlo Collodi in 1883. The main focus is on the theme and style of the story,

because these elements are also of great importance during the performance. After the

analysis I will appoint to a very well-known version: Disney’s Pinocchio. I need to understand

what kind of interpretation layer could be possible in order to understand what needs to be

scrapped off to experience the authentic story.

3.2 | La Avventure di Pinocchio

The Italian writer Carlo Collodi published La Avventure di

Pinocchio in 1883, a cluster of short stories. For this thesis,

I read a Dutch and English translation. The Dutch version is

translated from the Italian by J. H. Klinkert - Pötters Vos

(1976) and the English version is translated from the Italian

by Carol Della Chiesa, edited by Candida Martinelli (n.d.).

The title of the book doesn’t need lots of

explanation: The Adventures of Pinocchio, the History of a

Marionette. The story is about Pinocchio, a marionette

who experiences lots of scary and dangerous situations. It

takes a long time before he learns from his mistakes and

adventures, but in the end he will turn into a ‘real’ civilized

boy.

Figure 9. The Adventures of Pinocchio. Retrieved from http://www.general-

ebooks.com/book/38028341-the-adventures-of-pinocchio-by-carlo-collodi-

annotated

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3.2.1 | Meeting Pinocchio

“Centuries ago there lived…

"A king!" my little readers will say immediately.

No, children, you are mistaken. Once upon a time there was a piece of wood. It was not an

expensive piece of wood. Far from it. Just a common block of firewood, one of those thick,

solid logs that are put on the fire in winter to make cold rooms cozy and warm. “

(Chiesa, n.d., p. 9) (Klinkert - Pötters Vos, 1976, p. 5).

Within these first sentences, the reader meets Pinocchio without even knowing it. The story

will be about ‘a piece of wood’, which will later turn into a marionette. From the beginning,

that piece of wood is special. Its first owner, the carpenter Antonio is amazed when the

piece of wood makes a noise the minute he starts cutting it. He gets scared and is glad his

friend and wood cutter Geppetto asks for a piece of wood to make a marionette. Geppetto,

a heated old man, wants to travel the world with that puppet and make lots of money. After

getting home, he immediately names the marionette: Pinocchio. That piece of wood

suddenly has a name. Next, that piece turns into a wooden boy; Pinocchio is created. The

moment Geppetto starts with the eyes of the puppet, they stare at its creator. When he

finishes the nose, it starts growing. That ‘impertinent nose’ keeps growing every time

Geppetto wants to cut it. (During his adventures, every time Pinocchio tells a lie, his nose

grows enormously.) After finishing the mouth, Pinocchio starts laughing and singing, after

finishing the arms and hands, Pinocchio grabs Geppetto’s wig. The marionette is not even

finished, but is already a naughty boy without respect for his ‘father’. When Pinocchio gets

legs and feet, he immediately storms off and runs away.

Within the first three short chapters, the character of Pinocchio is clear: a cheeky

marionette who doesn’t listen to his father. The moment he is created, Pinocchio is already

challenging his father in his way to raise his son. During the whole story, Pinocchio doesn’t

listen to other adults or animals that give him advice or warn him.

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3.2.2 | The other characters

Pinocchio meets a lot of other characters during his adventures. They are all meaningful

entities of the story, but some are more important than others. Now I will discuss the most

important characters in the life of Pinocchio who help him becoming a real boy.

Geppetto, his creator and thus father, is physically not often present within the story.

After Pinocchio doesn’t come home from school, Geppetto starts looking for him. While he

was introduced like a heated old man, Geppetto loves his own son and would do anything

for him, even cross the sea with a small boat. He drowns and gets eaten by the Terrible

Dogfish. Pinocchio often things about his father. These are the moments he regrets his

mistakes, but he keeps appearing in dangerous situations. In the end of the story, Pinocchio

also gets eaten by the same shark and finds Geppetto in its stomach. Together they escape

and Pinocchio decides to take care of his father who forgives all his mistakes.

The Talking Cricket, who lived over a hundred years in Geppetto’s house, speaks the

first wisely words: "Woe to boys who refuse to obey their parents and run away from home!

They will never be happy in this world, and when they are older they will be very sorry for

it." (Chiesa, n.d., p. 31) (Klinkert - Pötters Vos, 1976, p. 20). Pinocchio doesn’t want to go to

school, he only wants to have fun. “...Don't you know that if you go on like that, you will

grow into a perfect donkey and that you'll be the laughingstock of everyone?" (Chiesa, n.d.,

p. 31) (Klinkert - Pötters Vos, 1976, p. 20). These last words are kind of a prediction of what

will happen to Pinocchio. Pinocchio gets angry and smashes the head of the cricket with a

hammer.

The first naughty trick is played by the lame Fox and blind Cat Pinocchio meets on his

way home after his night at a Marionette theatre. As the reader you immediately

understands these fellows are faking their conditions, because the moment Pinocchio shows

his five golden pieces he earned at the theatre, the Fox holds out his paw that is supposed to

be lame and the Cat widely openes his eyes. They come up with an idea to double that

money on the Field of Wonders. When Pinocchio is asleep, the Fox and Cat leave him.

Pinocchio tries to find the Field on his own, but gets chased by two assassins, one tall and

one short character (the Fox and Cat). They catch Pinocchio and hang him in a tree hoping

the marionette would die, so they could steal the golden pieces. Luckily, Pinocchio survives

with the help of the Little Maiden with Azure hair. In the end of the story, when Pinocchio

really decides to change his naughty life, he runs into the Fox and Cat. Faking their

37

conditions their entire life backed fire on them, because the Fox actually gets lame and the

Cat actually gets blind. The notion of faking and lying is one of the motives of this story (see

later in this chapter).

The Little Maiden with Azure hair, who helps Pinocchio out of the tree, first appears

as the ghost of a young girl. This Fairy helps Pinocchio a few times after he learns his lesson.

She becomes a mother figure for Pinocchio and she is the reason the marionette wants to go

to school. The Fairy promises the marionette that when he will be a decent boy, Pinocchio

will turn into a real boy, like all the others boys.

During his adventures, Pinocchio is warned by a lot of different animals. A Blackbird

warns him for the Fox and Cat and a Glow Worm tels him it is bad to steal a bunch of grapes.

None of these advices are followed by Pinocchio. Even though those animals themselves

have a short part in the story, their ideas belong to the education of the young boy.

Until now, I only spoke of Pinocchio as a naughty boy, but somewhere in his wooden

body there is a good heart. A few times he saves or helps other people and animals and in

return he gets rewarded. In the Marionette Theatre he rescues the other marionettes from

the fire place. He receives five golden pieces. The Bulldog of the police, which first caught

him, almost drowned. Pinocchio saves him, but almost gets eaten himself. The Bulldog saves

him in return. Even thought Pinocchio seems to be lazy and cheeky, he understands it is nice

to do something for others.

3.2.3 | Motives and Theme of the story

The story is written in the 19th century. The story represents the ideas on the education of a

child in het period of time. Of course, also nowadays, a child shouldn’t steal or lie, but there

are also some differences between the 19th century and today. The Talking Cricket expects

Pinocchio to go to school, but when the marionette refuses, the Cricket replies: "If you do

not like going to school, why don't you at least learn a trade, so that you can earn an honest

living?" (Chiesa, n.d., p. 32) (Klinkert - Pötters Vos, 1976, p. 20). Nowadays, children are

mandatory to go to school. Skipping a day or two is not something the school or parents will

appreciate and is not something that can happen easily. In order to understand this issue in

that time, the 21st century reader needs to use his/her imagination.

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The nowadays reader needs to use his/her imagination in order to understand the complete

story. The writer also uses a ‘trick’ to put on the ‘imagination button’ of the reader. “Fancy

his surprise...” (Chiesa, n.d., p. 22) (Klinkert - Pötters Vos, 1976, p. 12). “Pinocchio, as you

may well imagine, began to scream and weep and beg.” ((Chiesa, n.d., p. 138) (Klinkert -

Pötters Vos, 1976, p. 91). The writer chooses a notable style of ‘talking’ to his readers. In the

first phrases he already addresses to his young readers, but during the narrative he also

proposes the reader to use his/her imagination, a technique used in many children’s books.

The reader is asked if they could imagine what will happen if they would behave like

Pinocchio did. The writer makes it possible for the reader to think about the situation. This

way of using imagination fits within the concept of a fantasy story: Connecting and find links

with the world Pinocchio and the world the reader lives in (Joosen & Vloeberghs, 2012).

Within the original story, the reader already needs to use his/her imagination to understand

the story and make meaning. In Chapter 4 you will read if the performance also conducts

this way of triggering the spectator.

The use of imagination and the learning lesson are some meaningful elements of the story,

called a motive (Van Boven & Dorleijn, 2010, p. 271). These elements contribute to the

meaning the reader will grant to the story. Within the story of Pinocchio of 1883, a few other

motives are recognisable: every adventure Pinocchio experiences is constructed the same

way. Pinocchio makes a promise, after a while he breaks it. Even after a warning by an

animal or adult, Pinocchio continues make up his own mind, after some doubt. He and

others end up in a dangerous situation. What seems to be as a good idea will later turn into

a feeling of guilt. After getting punished, Pinocchio has remorse, helps someone in need and

will be rewarded in the end. This circle appears in every adventure.

An example: Pinocchio wants to go to school, just like the Talking Cricket told him. On

his first day to school, Pinocchio’s attention gets triggered by the atmosphere of the

Marionette Theatre. ‘The theatre will only be here today and I can also go to school

tomorrow’, is what Pinocchio thought. He sells his A-B-C-Book Geppetto bought for him by

selling his only coat, so he could buy a ticket. The marionettes of the theatre recognise their

brother Pinocchio and the group of puppets are enthusiastic and loud. The Director of the

theatre hears the noise and wants to use Pinocchio for the fire to cook the lamb on the spit.

Pinocchio yells he doesn’t want to die. After begging and begging, the Director feels sorry

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and frees Pinocchio, but his fire needs wood, thus he picks another marionette, one of

Pinocchio’s friends, to throw on the fire. Pinocchio doesn’t want that to happen either, so

instead of Harlequin, the Director needs to pick him. The Director sees the kindness in

Pinocchio’s heart and feels sorry for Harlequin. None of the marionettes will be used as fire

wood that evening and Pinocchio is rewarded with five golden pieces to take home to

Geppetto (Chiesa, n.d.) (Klinkert - Pötters Vos, 1976). After every nasty situation, Pinocchio

wants to improve his life.

This circle represents the way in which children are learning from their mistakes. Mistakes,

here, are the broken promises and lies. It will turn out bad if you will continue lying and

don’t do what is expected from you. The Fox and Cat are continuously lying about their

conditions. In the end, the Fox is really paralyzed and the Cat is really blind.

Finally, every advice, every warning contributes to the last motive: learning and go to

school. When the Fox and Cat tell Pinocchio going to school won’t result in anything good, a

little Blackbird warns the marionette not to listen to that advice. Every time Pinocchio is

freed from a dangerous situation, he wants to improve his life and the first thing he wants to

do is go to school. One of the adventures represents the proof that not going to school will

turn out bad: The Fairy promises Pinocchio he will turn into a real boy, but instead of

listening to the Fairy and come home on time, Pinocchio is persuaded by his friend Lamp-

Wick to go with him to the Land of Toys. There are no schools, no teachers, only fun. After

five months not going to school and not learning anything, Pinocchio does’t turn into a real

boy but into a real donkey (Chiesa, n.d.) (Klinkert - Pötters Vos, 1976). As you know,

according to the expression, donkeys are considered being dumb.

All these motives contribute to the primary motive: the theme (Van Boven & Dorleijn, 2010,

p. 273). The theme represents the main idea of the story in a few words. After reading the

story and the search of motives, I would set the theme of Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio as

follows: ‘In order to become a civilized boy, like the society expects from you, you need to

learn at school, but also learn from your own mistakes’.

In every circle discussed above, Pinocchio ends up in a bad situation because he

doesn’t listen to others and wants to do his own thing. When he starts to understand what

he did wrong, he gets freed from the situation and learns from his mistake. Even though it

40

takes quite a long time before he never breaks a promise again and keeps ending up in

dangerous situation, in the end Pinocchio becomes a civilized boy and understands what he

needs to do to behave like a real boy.

The expectant society I’m talking about is represented by every animal in the story.

There are always some bad guys, the Fox and Cat and people who would want to help you,

like the Bulldog. Every advice and every warning is part of the expectations Pinocchio needs

to follow within that society. Before Pinocchio ends up in a nasty situation, an advice or

warning is given. The next question arises: Are these animals real or is it the imagination of

the marionette? Does he already know what the society expects from him, but doesn’t act

like it? The writer leaves it up to the reader himself to decide: it’s his/her interpretation.

3.3 | Other Pinocchio’s

Before we entered the Efteling Theatre, I asked the participants if they ever heard of

Pinocchio. If yes, I asked what book they’ve read or what movie they saw. Only one

participant never saw a movie or read a book, but he knew what the story was about: “A

wooden boy whose noise grows when he lies”. He couldn’t reply where he collected that

knowledge, but presented it as common knowledge.

All of the other participants refered to the Disney movie (première: February 1940) or

a Disney book they read themselves or their parents read it aloud. Disney plays an important

role in the interpretation layer the spectators have. The Pinocchio story they know is based

mostly on that particular version. That is why I will shortly discuss the Disney movie of

Pinocchio.

3.3.1 | Disney’s Pinocchio

With the use of songs and music, Disney tells the story of the

wooden marionette Pinocchio, made by the friendly old

Geppetto. It is a story told by the Talking Cricket Jiminy who

starts living in the old house of the puppet maker. At one

night, Geppetto finishes the marionette and goes off to bed,

whishing his cat Figaro and the goldfish Cleo goodnight. Seeing

a shooting star, he wishes he would have a real son one day. Figure 10. Disney Pinocchio. Copy retrieved from

https://www.donaldduck.nl/duckipedia/p/pinokkio/

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That night, a Blue Fairy turns the marionette alive and makes Jiminy the conscious of the

‘boy’. Geppetto wakes from the noise inside his house and finds out Pinocchio is alive and

starts to dance with his son.

On his way to school the next day, Pinocchio meets Honest John the Fox and his

companion, Gideon the Cat, telling him an easier way to success: Theatre. Pinocchio ends up

as a star in Stromboli’s puppet show. Without receiving anything of the earned money,

Pinocchio gets locked up in a cage. While Jiminy tries to rescue him, the Blue Fairy comes to

help the puppet. This would be the last time she is able to

help.

On his way home, Pinocchio comes against John and

Gideon again. They convince him to go on vacation to

Pleasure Island (John and Gideon earn money if they deliver

boys). With his new friend Lampwick, Pinocchio enjoys his

time at Pleasure Island, until he starts to turn into a donkey

for sale.

After escaping Pleasure Island, Jiminy and Pinocchio

find out Geppetto went looking for his son and got swallowed by Monstro, a giant whale.

After diving into the sea, Pinocchio asks every fish if they have seen Monstro, while the

whale is right behind him. Pinocchio and Jiminy get swallowed and are reunited with

Geppetto, Cleo and Figaro. The wooden boy starts a fire in order to let Monstro sneeze them

out. It works: all wash ashore, but Pinocchio doesn’t move. All characters mourn alongside

the lifeless body of Pinocchio on his bed at home. The Blue Fairy appears and decides

Pinocchio being brave enough to become a real boy. Pinocchio wakes up and appears to be a

boy of flesh and blood.

Figure 11. John the Fox and Gideon the Cat. Copy retrieved from

https://cinemahomosexualis.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/972/

42

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On a sunny Sunday afternoon, two adult participants, man and wife, and I enter the entrance of

the Efteling. After scanning the tickets, retrieved online, we walk towards the white building:

the Efteling Theatre. In front, Luc the porter, dressed in a long red coat and black hat, greets us.

He wants to wish us a great show, but suddenly he breaks character. Apparently, Luc knows the

two adult visitors. It remains a short catching up because the man and woman want to enter

the building.

Inside the lobby we order something to drink and talk about what they know about the

story of Pinocchio. They are not sure they ever saw a movie, but they read or heard the story

when they were little. Besides, the mother read out the story to her children a few years ago.

A few minutes before the show starts, people all around start to walk towards the doors

of the auditorium. We follow them and an employee of the Efteling explains where to find our

seats. Listening to the Italian music, the man and woman are looking around them. They are

interested in the decor already standing on stage. The lights are dimmed and the show starts:

“Boys and girls! Welcome to the Efteling Musical Pinocchio! Please turn your phone off. It is not

allowed to make photo- and film material during the show, only from the final applause. O yes,

it is also not allowed to lie during the show. Have fun!”

The voice of a little boy resounds through the theatre. The man and woman stop talking and

start concentrating on the show.

During the show, the man and woman laugh, applaud and tell their fellow visitor what

they think. The man even waved when the actor asked the children to wave. In the end, as you

know, Pinocchio turns into a real boy. The woman is moved by this event.

The final applause start and the man and woman stand up to give a standing ovation.

After leaving the auditorium, we realise a few characters stand in the lobby to take a picture.

The adults don’t feel the need and we go home to talk about the musical enjoying a cup of tea.

4 | Analysis Pinocchio musical Efteling Theatre

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4.1 | Introduction

The theory is set, the original story explained; it is time to analyse the Pinocchio musical

performed at the Efteling Theatre. The analysis is based on the Contextual Model of Learning

of Falk & Dierking (2013). This model is supplemented with the historical experience of

Ankersmit (2007) and the performance as an interaction of Fischer-Lichte (n.d.). The

theoretical framework has lead to a hypothesis of how the complete experience of the

Pinocchio musical would look like. I created a visualized hypothetical model to illustrate the

expectation according to the theoretical framework.

The Pinocchio musical experience starts with the idea of going to visit. This idea sets the

mind of thinking if the potential visitor wants to go or not and of course: why? These reasons

are formed by the identity-related motivations. When the individual has decided to go, the

experience also includes the planning of getting to the Efteling and in what social group.

What is the role of the individual in that group? This all happens before the visit. The

moment the visitor arrives at the Efteling Theatre the physical context plays an important

role. The theatre building itself makes an impression. While waiting in the lobby with a cup

Figure 12. Visualised hypothetical model

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of coffee the visitor will observe the physical elements, other spectators and staff members

and the atmosphere. A few minutes before the show starts, the audience will turn to their

seats and have the opportunity to observe the auditorium. The performance itself is an

interaction between the actors and audience. The latter may be triggered to use their

imagination. This will contribute to getting beyond reality and experience a historical

sensation: The Ankersmit moment. After the show, some time will pass. The spectators are

able to talk and think about what they have seen and experienced. All these ideas and values

will contribute to the memory. Because every musical experience is build upon prior

knowledge and experience, the Pinocchio musical experience will also contribute to future

experiences of the visitors.

Using this hypothetical model, I will analyse the Pinocchio musical experience step by

step. In this way it is clear the total experience is an actual track, divided through a certain

period of time. The experience starts with the idea of going to the musical and it ends a few

weeks after the actual visit. The knowledge and perception of this experience will be

elements in future musical visits.

After I shortly explaine the conducted ‘participating observation’ method, I will present the

participants; three different generations. The prologue of this chapter is a short objective

description of the visit by the adult generation, a man and wife. The musical is also visited by

two sisters (9 and 12 years old) and by a group of students of my own generation (22-28

years old). Thirdly, I will follow the ‘experience track’ starting by the idea of going to the

musical and ending within the aftermath. During this track, the results from the data

collection of all participating communities will be compared, which helps us to understand

the complete Pinocchio musical experience.

4.2 | Participating observation

In order to be as closely as possible, I performed a form of ‘participating observation’ during

the visits. Participating observation is a qualitative method of doing research (Mack,

Woodsong, MacQueen, Guest, Namey, 2005). Its roots are in ethnographic research in which

the researcher tries to learn about the perspectives of a specific population. Every musical

visit happened in a community setting, which allowed me to observe the social relations.

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Normally a participating observation is conduct within the environment of the

community itself, but that’s not possible when examining the musical experience. But the

Efteling Theatre was also new for me, as researcher. Every participant and the researcher

entered the same new environment, at least the first visit. During my second and third visit,

with a new group of participants, I held back and let the participants enter the theatre first.

A few weeks after the visit I set down with every group in the environment familiar to them

and me: the man and wife in their own home, the girls at the scouting (I’m also a member)

and with the group of my own age at the university.

During every visit I watched, but also interacted with the participants. They knew I

was doing a research, but I tried not to behave as a researcher that much. I wanted the

participants to act like they would normally do, that is why I behaved like I would within that

group. I led the participants talk and I asked a lot of questions. In that way I wasn’t an

outsider and I gained their trust. After every visit I carefully took objective notes of every

relevant conversation and interaction. Because this thesis is about the ‘total’ experience,

every conversation was relevant. I couldn’t take notes during the visit, because normally I

wouldn’t do that either. I had to rely on my memory in order to make notes after the visit.

The reason I chose to conduct a participating observation, is because this method

helps understanding the complexities of the experience (Mack, et al, 2005). It helps to

understand the physical, social, cultural and economic contexts of the participants. By asking

a lot of questions and not only observe during the visit, I was able to study the relationships

between people, contexts, ideas, norms and events; how people behave.

4.3 | Who are the participants?

To analyse the experience of the participant, I chose to visit the musical three times, each

time with different participants.

- Two adults, man and wife.

- Two young sisters, 9 and 12 years old.

- One boy and three girls of my own generation (22-28 years old).

The Efteling is a family focused theme park. That is why I chose to visit the musical with two

family related social groups.

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- The adults

The two adults, Harry & Jolanda 1 are husband and wife, parents

of three children in their twenties. When their children were

young, they brought them along to a lot of cultural institutions

like museums and zoo’s. The man and wife didn’t visit a lot of

theatre shows or musicals with their young kids. When the

children grew older, the parents gave them the opportunity to

go to theatre shows if they wanted to, but only the Lion King

musical was chosen. The children grew older and Harry and

Jolanda choose to do things on their own. Especially Harry

visited a lot of music performance and cabaret shows in

different theatres in the Netherlands. They both grew up in the nearby area of the

Efteling. When they were younger they went to the Efteling and they also visited the theme

park with their kids. They never visited the Efteling Theatre before.

- The young sisters (9 and 12 years old)

The two young sisters, Sarah (9) & Shelley (12) are the only

children of their father and mother. They both grew up in Sprang-

Capelle, a small village near Kaatsheuvel (city of the Efteling). They

visit the Efteling park at least one’s a year with their family, but

they never went to a musical in the Efteling Theatre. Their

parents didn’t go to a lot of museums with the two girls. They

were more interested in zoo parks.

- The 22 - 28-year-old

participants

The last group exists of four people from

the same age: Nicole, Amy, Sander and

Lynn. Three of them are fellow students

of the Master Art, Media & Society at

1 Fictive names. Real names are known by researcher (R)

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Tilburg University. Of course, they are interested in cultural institutions, like museums and

music performance. Actually, they didn’t go to a lot of theatre performances or musicals

before, only on a school trip. These students are familiar with the Efteling theme park, one

visited the park every summer, but they haven’t visit the Efteling Theatre to see a musical.

The fourth participant is 28-year-old Lynn, mother of a 2-year-old girl. She lives in

Kaatsheuvel and visits the Efteling a few times during the week with her daughter. She was

not familiar to the other members of this group. Like the other participants she never visited

the Efteling Theatre before. She didn’t visit a lot of cultural institutions like museums or

theatre shows.

4.4 | The analysis

This analysis is based on every conversation and interaction with the participants before,

during and after the visit. Remarkable ideas and comments of every participant will be

discussed.

4.4.1 | Before the visit

The idea: yes or no?

The Pinocchio musical experience begins the moment the

participants starts to think of going to the Efteling Theatre. In

this case they didn’t have the idea for themselves; it was me, the

researcher, who asked them if they would like to visit the musical.

Figure 13. Print screen of WhatsApp message to fellow students. March 1st

An app was enough to invite a few fellow students. From the group of eight; four persons

agreed to go on the 28th of March. “Nice” and “I’m in” were some of the reactions. None of

the students ever went to the Efteling Theatre before. Because of their interest in culture,

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this is an opportunity to experience something new. The reasons why the others didn’t

agree: two are foreign and can’t understand Dutch that well. The others had other plans.

After planning the date, one of the students suddenly needed to work. The ticket was

already booked, so Lynn became the substitute. She was already planning on going to the

Efteling that day with her daughter and partner, so she wouldn’t mind skipping a few hours

to visit the musical.

Asking Harry and Jolanda wasn’t a long conversation; it was an immediate ‘yes’. They

like to go to theatre shows and try new things. They were interested in the Efteling Theatre,

because they never went there, even though they live close by. These ‘explorers’ (Falk &

Dierking, 2013) were curious about the musical and the theatre. Because they have visited a

lot of theatres, they would like to experience a new one.

The two little sisters doubted, because Shelley thought she was too old and Sarah

didn’t want to go without her sister. After some encouragement of their parents, both girls

agreed. Sarah was very interested in the story and wanted to see the Blue Fairy, because

that’s her favourite character of the Disney movie.

All of the participants agreed to go, also because they wanted to help me. This was

probably the main reason to go for the students, next to cosiness of course. Because it

needed to be as objective as possible, I chose not to explain too much about the research.

Every participant was aware of the study, but it wasn’t mentioned during or after the visit. In

that way it didn’t feel much as ‘helping out’. They all agreed even before they knew they got

a discount on the tickets: instead of €19,50, they only needed to pay €10,-.

Interesting is the fact that none of the participants were thinking of going to the Pinocchio

musical before they were asked, not even the youngest participant. Why was that? The older

participants, adults and twenty-year-olds, had the same answer: “It is a show for children”.

Besides, the art form musical is not their first choice during leisure time. This is also the case

with the two sisters. But, they already looked up for some information about the musical.

Apparently, children from different ages could volunteer to perform in two shows on one

day. Sarah wanted to volunteer, but the parents thought she wouldn’t make a chance,

because there would be a lot of other children. It never came in their minds to visit the

musical just as ‘audience’.

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Identity-related motivations and prior knowledge

None of the participants visited the Efteling Theatre before to visit a musical, but all visited

the theme park more than once. The reason why they agreed to go this time is addressed to

the identity-related motivations (Falk & Dierking, 2013). The curious adults and young sisters

can be categorised as ‘explorers’. Sarah was most interested in the Blue Fairy and wanted to

know what she would look like. The adults were curious about the show and theatre. The

mark ‘explorers’ is not enough to describe the motivations. Like the students, the adults and

girls also wanted to help out and go in a particular group. The oldest enables the younger

sister to experience the Pinocchio story. The students, as ‘facilitators’ also chose to visit

within the social group and make the experience happen. The categories Falk & Dierking

(2013) describe are not as strict as they seem. A visitor is able to have social motivations

next to his own personal needs.

When deciding whether or not to go, next to identity-related motivations, prior

knowledge shapes the expectations of the participants. What do they already know or don’t

know about Pinocchio? Interesting to see is that almost every participant knows (some of)

the version of Disney. This knowledge is gathered by the movie or book. That is why that

version is highlighted earlier in this thesis. Some elements that were remembered:

- The blue fairy (Sarah)

- Pleasure Island when Pinocchio turns into a donkey (Amy & Nicole)

- The growing nose when Pinocchio tells a lie (Every participant)

- Jiminy Cricket who plays the conscious of Pinocchio (Almost every participant)

- The kind Geppetto (Harry)

R: Did you ever saw or read something of Pinocchio?

Amy: “Yeah, quite a long time ago. Haha”

Sander: “I have never seen the movie”

R & Amy: “You didn’t?”

Sander: “No, but I know that it’s about telling lies and the nose of the wooden boy

will grow”

There was only one participant who never saw or read anything about the story of the

wooden boy. Sander couldn’t reply on anything when asking what he would expect. He only

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knew that the nose of the marionette would grow if he told a lie. So, every participant had

his or her own knowledge about the story, but the common element is, even if the story

wasn’t familiar: the growing nose of Pinocchio.

Because almost every participant had an idea about the story, expectations were

easily made, but not very well thought through. Only some elements of the story were

remembered, which is why the participants couldn’t create a total expectation for

themselves. They understood they were going to visit a story about a wooden boy with a

growing nose and could only hope to recognise the elements they know.

Because none of the participants ever visited the Efteling Theatre before, everyone

could create an expectation about the theatre itself. Most of the participants expected quite

a large building, like a castle (as in a fairytale).

This prior knowledge matters within the so-called ‘Ankersmit-moment’ during the

visit. To experience the authentic story, the participants need to let go of the ideas they

already had in a way to scrap off the interpretation layer (Ankersmit, 2007). One of the

students never saw or read anything from the story and his ideas are based on things he

heard. Further on in this chapter you will read if this prior knowledge plays to the

advantages or disadvantages of the historical sensation, because there is less known

information about the authentic story.

The tickets for the musical needed to be bought online. In this way, the Efteling had

your mail address and could send the tickets and other information. A few days before the

date of the musical, I received a mail: ‘Bijna naar de sprookjesmusical Pinokkio | Praktische

informatie’ *Almost to the fairytale musical Pinocchio | Practical information+. Next to

practical information about parking and starting time, the email also included a few fun

things. Children could download a drawn marionette to put together and could also listen to

a song from the musical: ‘Ik hou van dansen’ *I love to dance+. This mail was send to the

participants, but no one took a look at it. They didn’t receive knowledge from the Efteling

itself.

From A to B

It wasn’t very hard for the participants to plan the trip to the Efteling. They all went

there more than once in their lives, so they know how to get there. The adults and

the little girls even life in the village next to it. However, none of the participants actually

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knew where to enter the Efteling Theatre, even though this is right next to the main

entrance. After some explanation, the participants didn’t have any trouble planning their

way to the Efteling.

Harry and Jolanda were by bike and by the time they got closer to the Efteling, the

wife got a bit nervous, because she didn’t know where to park her bike. Harry was more

relaxed and gave directions. This shows the division of the roles within their relationship.

The man takes the lead, while the woman follows.

The parents of Shelley and Sarah didn’t want to spend any money on parking, which

is why they dropped off the girls at the carpool area. It looked like the family was on a

fieldtrip together, but the two children got out of the car and the parents drove off to take a

walk with their dog. We were in front of the Efteling entrance, so the children were too

excited to wait and wave at their parents. Sarah couldn’t stop smiling. She looked like every

other child in front of the Efteling: super excited. There are not much children that hate to

go to the Efteling, but Sarah was just as enthusiastic to go the theatre as the children who’ll

go to the theme park.

All of the students travelled by bus from Tilburg. For a student that’s one of the most

used means of transport and in that way they didn’t have to pay a parking ticket. It is not

difficult for them to look up which bus they need to get. And so it happens that the Efteling

has her own bus stop. Amy accidently was wrong about time and needed to rush to get to

the bus. She was a bit rushed when she arrived, but the cup of tea did her well.

There are many ways to get to the Efteling. The Theatre has almost the same

entrance, which makes it easy to plan the route. The participants, or their parents, knew it

wasn’t cheap to park the car. That is why they all chose to travel with a different transport. It

didn’t take much time to get to the Efteling Theatre, (max 25 minutes) which made it easier

to go.

Social motivations

Before the visit, the collective needs of the social group also played a role in deciding

whether or not to go (Falk & Dierking, 2013). Every social group had their own motivations

and values to visit the Pinocchio musical. A clear example is Sarah who didn’t want to go

without her older sister. Visiting a musical is a social interaction and she wanted that

interaction with her sister. It shows she has a nice relation with her sister and would like to

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have a family member with her during this experience. Spending time with your sister,

without the parents, was the collective need of the two girls.

Both the adults and the students thought it would be a cosy day to visit a musical

with relatives. The reason for the social groups to go had nothing to do with learning or

something like that. The valuable motivation was to experience something new with a nice

group of friends. The students didn’t really deliberate with each other. They all decided for

themselves they wanted to experience something new.

Before the musical started, all groups talked about what they would expect from the

performance. Naturally, the adults and students expected a musical especially for children.

They were less excited than the two girls. Their expectations were based on the Pinocchio

story (Disney version). Sarah couldn’t stop talking about the blue fairy, while Shelley was

curious about Pleasure Island, because that was her favourite part of the movie.

In order to retrieve more insight about the musical and its creation, I tried to contact the

Efteling Theatre hoping to have a conversation with one of the creators. They were very

restrained of giving information. That’s why I looked further. Online I found a short

documentary about the progress towards the première of the musical. The creators and

actors really believed they made a new version of their own Pinocchio story. They didn’t

want to use anything from Disney and wanted to go back to the original of Carlo Collodi.

Because it is a fairytale children/family musical, the creators added a happier note to the

musical (Efteling, September 14 & October 5, 2015).

4.4.2 | During the visit

This phase consists of the moment the participants were in front of

the Efteling Theatre, waiting in the lobby and the performance

itself.

In front of the Efteling Theatre

Sarah: “I didn’t know the Efteling Theatre was this big.”

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Two girls standing in front of the Efteling Theatre: they were looking their eyes out. This

group of participants showed the clearest reaction when walking towards the castellated

building. The students just looked and didn’t even react to the architecture. The building,

shaped as a castle, seemed to represent the fairytale theme of the fairytale musicals played

inside. This is the reason why the architecture addressed more to the children.

Before entering the theatre, Luc Portier

welcomed the visitors at the entrance door. “The

atmosphere should start a little before people go to the

show at all.” (Efteling, October 15, 2015, [YouTube

movie], 7.59 min). This character, dressed in a long red

coat with the logo of the Efteling was the first social

interaction outside the social group and didn’t mind to

take a picture with the visitors. Every social group

reacted differently. Harry and Jolanda, as already

discussed, knew Luc Portier, which made him lose

character. His joyful voice changed to his normal voice

to start a ‘normal’ conversation with the two visitors. Jolanda lost her sister a few months

before and Luc Portier knew the sister and the situation. He wanted to talk about that, but

Jolanda wasn’t pleased to answer. It got to personal and the woman wanted to enter the

theatre. Luc Portier excused himself and wished us a nice performance.

The little girls loved the tall man, because he was just as excited as they were. As it

happened, the day they visited the musical it was also his birthday. The already happy girls

got even more joyful when they were singing for the reception committee.

The students and Lynn thought it wasn’t necessary to put someone in front of the

theatre that would welcome the visitors.

Amy: “I just want to go inside. *sigh+”.

Sander: “He was too happy”

The happiness of the character in front of the Efteling Theatre wasn’t copied on the 20-year-

olds. They didn’t expect it and didn’t like it. They just wanted to get excited about the

musical in their own way.

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The lobby

Every group of participants arrived half an hour before the show, which gave them

the opportunity to drink something in the foyer. Almost every other visitor was waiting with

a cup of coffee or tea in their hands, while the young children were running around. Because

the cloakroom wasn’t insight, none of the participants took of their jacket to hand it in. They

rather kept their jacket with them. Because one member of the group made that decision,

everyone else of the group also kept their jackets. Inside the lobby social interactions and

influences took place: inside and outside the social group.

Harry and Jolanda were having a conversation about whatever came up in their

minds. They talked about their children, their work, and also about the Pinocchio story. The

man and woman weren’t able to recall to the complete story.

Harry: “What was the name of the father again?”

R: “Geppetto”

Jolanda: “Oh yeah, and he was like a carpenter right?”

Harry: “He makes marionettes”

The conversation was shallow and it looked like they only talked, because they needed to

wait. This was also happening with the nine-year-old.

Sarah: “I hope the Blue Fairy will be there. Oh, and the donkeys. I think they are

cute.”

Her mouth didn’t stop moving, totally different from Shelley, because she was very quiet.

She was just enjoying what she saw and heard: her little sister, other children running

around, the candy booth and so on.

The students were talking about their studies and thesis’s, because every student

was busy doing his or her research. Not once they talked about Pinocchio or the story. The

mother of the two-year-old started chatting about her day in the Efteling: It was the first

time her daughter went in the Bobsled attraction. She even showed a movie she recorded

on her phone.

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While waiting, there were no characters like Luc Portier inside the lobby. The staff

members behind the bar were dressed in their Efteling outfit. Nothing referred to the fact

the visitors were about to watch a Pinocchio musical. This was an observation from the

researcher, not particularly from the participants. The staff members were only doing their

jobs by handing out drinks and snacks.

The moment a few visitors started walking towards the auditorium doors, every

participant made the same movement in anticipation of what the other group members

would do. There was no gong or bell indicating the show was about to start. It was five

minutes before the beginning of the musical and the visitors, not even knowing each other,

followed one another. This is the well known social

influence endorsed by other spectators.

Physical elements

As you can reduce from the reactions on the building and

the conversation topics, the adults and the twenty-year-

olds weren’t really focussing on the physical elements of

the Efteling Theatre. Inside the lobby, the colour red was

dominant. The same colour red of the coat of Luc Portier.

They belonged together.

In one corner, a candy

booth was located. The sisters noticed it right away, but to

be polite they didn’t want to get something. While waiting

at the table, Sarah looked at a particular corner a few times.

There was a big sign of the puppet Pinocchio. After some

hesitation she wanted to take a picture with the board. She

hesitated because there was no other child visitor who also

took a picture with the sign.

Figure 14. The lobby of Efteling Theatre.

Retrieved from

http://www.bd.nl/regio/tilburg-e-o/loon-op-

zand/efteling-theater-bestaat-tien-jaar-

1.3365930

Figure 15. Picture of 9-year-old in front

of Pinocchio sign.

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The sign seemed to be the only reference to Pinocchio

inside the lobby, but before entering the auditorium,

some posters hang on the wall: posters of Constanzo,

Marionette Theatre, referring to the story of

Pinocchio. Watching the other visitors and

participants; no one seemed to notice. The posters

weren’t noticeable. It seemed they didn’t have an

actual function. It was just nice to recognise the story

elements when you noticed the posters on the wall.

The atmosphere inside the lobby could be described as a crowded, patiently waiting

moment. There was not much to see, only other visitors and running children. Every family

and social group stood waiting for the moment they could enter the auditorium.

The auditorium

Waiting for the show to start: that was the only thing to do when sitting in your

chair. As in the lobby, there are not much physical elements referring to the

Pinocchio story. The stage was decorated like a sky, with a big envelop hanging up high. One

of the students was eager to read what was written on the envelop. On the left lay a boat,

on the right stood a few wooden boxes. Very loudly, Italian music was playing. At least, the

adults and 20-year-olds recognised it as such. The youngest sister recognised something

different:

Sarah: “That’s the music of the Carglass commercial! Auw Auw, ...*singing+.”

She didn’t submit the link of the Italian music and Pinocchio. She didn’t even know Pinocchio

supposed to happen in Italy. Every other participant who immediately thought of Italian

music didn’t think further and didn’t recognise the well known melody.

The lights dimmed, every one stopped talking, was seating well; the Pinocchio

musical started.

Figure 16. Picture of poster on the wall

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The Pinocchio musical

First I will give a short analysis of the 75 minute during musical with focus on the

characters and motives, just like the analysis of Collodi’s Pinocchio. On the basis of the

retrieved data during the performance within conversations and interactions with the

participants, the experience can be discussed.

The assignment of Fay the Fairy

“Fiebele Fobele Feeeeee.....Poef!” A blue dressed fairy with red curly hair appears on

stage. She immediately introduces herself to the audience. As graduated fairy she

needs to accomplish an assignment: turn the wooden Pinocchio, made by Geppetto,

into a real civilised boy. Using magic to conjure a real boy is not that difficult, but a

‘civilised’ boy is the hardest part. She makes an agreement with Pinocchio: if he listens

to his father and behaves, that’s the only way to turn into a ‘real’ boy. Of course, that

doesn’t happen immediately.

The characters

Pinocchio is a wooden marionette, who turns into a naughty living puppet through

magic. He agrees with Fay the Fairy to behave in order to become a real boy. Pinocchio

loves to dance, because it is the first thing he learns from his father. On his way to

school he meets Fox and Cat who tell him about a marionette theatre where he could

dance all day long. Instead of going to school he listens to the two fellows and ends up

in trouble. This is not the only time he listens to the bad Fox and Cat.

“Boys and girls! Welcome to the Efteling Musical Pinocchio! Please turn your phone off. It is

not allowed to make photo- and film material during the show, only from the final applause.

O yes, it is also not allowed to lie during the show. Have fun!”

The voice of a young boy resounded through the theatre. Without being fully aware, this was

the first interaction with Pinocchio.

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His ignorant and naïve character always gets him in trouble. In the end he needs to save Geppetto

and himself on his own. He learned from his adventures and troubles. Fay the Fairy now knows for

sure he is ready to become a real boy.

Fay is a graduated fairy. She has a cheerful, clumsy and caring character. Although she is very

nervous about her first big assignment, she keeps telling herself she can do it. Every time Pinocchio

is in trouble, she helps him. But at one moment she things it has been enough. It is time for

Pinocchio to do it himself. In this way, she helps him to become a civilised boy. One of the main

characteristics is the nervous high toned laugh.

Geppetto, the father of Pinocchio is a friendly warm old man. The citizens of the Italian

village love their carpenter who is able to fix everything. He loves being around children and dreams

of ever become a father. That is exactly what happens the night after he finishes his marionette

Pinocchio. Fay the Fairy turns the puppet alive and Geppetto is able to dance with his son. He

couldn’t be happier and that’s why he gets worried when Pinocchio doesn’t come home from school.

He starts looking for him and would do everything to find him.

In this story there are a few bad guys. Two are duo Fox and Cat (played by one actor). They

manipulate Pinocchio in doing something different than going to school. The Fox is really cunning

and the Cat appears not to be very bright. The Fox comes up with the guiles to trick Pinocchio, like

going to the Miracle Meadow to steal the earned money of the marionette. The relation between

the two bad guys is typical. The Fox is the brains and the Cat the stupid side kick. The Cat ends

almost every appearance with a joke or a fart.

One of the other bad guys is Constanzo, the owner of the Marionette Theatre. He really loves

dancing, applause and himself. He also has an evil side, because after he pays Pinocchio, he doesn’t

want his star to leave. He wants to make money and more applause with Pinocchio and hangs him

with the other puppets so he can’t get away.

The last important character is also bad for Pinocchio. Signoro Pericolo collects truant

children to come with him to ‘Funland’ *Pretland+. He promises candy and lots of fun. This is all part

of his evil plan: all children slowly turn into donkeys which he could sell.

Motives

Pinocchio experiences a few dangerous adventures. A pattern is recognisable in ending up in those

adventures. At first, Pinocchio doesn’t listen to the advice of Fay the Fairy or Geppetto. He meets the

wrong people (Fox & Cat, Signoro Pericolo) and ends up in trouble. Every time he regrets his decision

and Fay is coming to help him. After giving him good advice, the pattern starts again.

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The first example is when Pinocchio ends up in the Marionette Theatre of Constanzo. On his way to

school (he promises Geppetto to go) he meets the Fox and Cat. They want to sell the marionette to

the director of the theatre. They manipulate Pinocchio by telling him he could dance all day long if

he goes with them. Pinocchio is curious and excited. He is sold for two golden pieces and puts up a

great show. He has earned five golden pieces which he wants to bring home to Geppetto. Of course,

Constanzo doesn’t want him to leave. He hangs the puppet with his other marionettes. Pinocchio

starts to whine: “Why didn’t I go to school?” Meanwhile, Fay the Fairy saw everything and when

Constanzo leaves, she rescues Pinocchio. But she doesn’t let him walk away that easy. With the use

of a magic trick, the nose of Pinocchio will grow every time he tells a lie.

Only in the end, Fay breaks through the pattern and doesn’t help Pinocchio: he needs to do it

on his own. He jumps into the water to rescue Geppetto who was swallowed by a big fish. After

Pinocchio also gets swallowed, he comes up with a plan to escape: Geppetto needs to ask questions

so that Pinocchio can lie. His nose starts to grow and touched the inside of the fish’s nose. Geppetto

and Pinocchio get sneezed out.

The lies Pinocchio tells are about the adventures he has experienced.

- Geppetto: “Are you smart?”

- Pinocchio: “No, I’m as stupid as a donkey”

Inside the fish, Pinocchio learns his lesson, which covers the moral of the musical: you are not

allowed to lie and when you skip school, you will become stupid. Pinocchio experiences these

lessons by himself and learns from them. That’s why in the end he becomes a real boy.

Although the Pinocchio musical appears to be a child focused performance, the show

contains a lot of jokes and references addressing to the adults inside the theatre. Especially the use

of supporting music is focusing on the older audience members. When the Fox & Cat and Constanzo

start deliberate about the price for Pinocchio, the famous duel music of Once Upon a Time in the

West resounds through the theatre. The music of Jaws when the big fish appears is also recognisable

for the adults.

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The musical was played by a few main actors and ensemble members. The ensemble

consisted of five 20-year-old actors and actresses and six members of a changing child cast.

Next to these children, thirty children were allowed to play in the musical for one day.

Before the show, they had a few hours to rehearse their parts. They needed to play children

and were also guided on stage what to do.

The musical experience

Everyone was ready for the Pinocchio story, but before meeting the marionette

the participants were introduced to Fay the Fairy. Sarah sat on the edge of her

chair. She saw her favourite character standing on stage. A sigh was heaved from Nicole,

Sander and Lynn. They found Fay kind of annoying, especially her nervous laughter. It was

clear she wasn’t a very good fairy, at least that what’s the song told the audience. “Instead

of conjuring a cat, I conjure a little hairy mat. Poef!” Suddenly a leek felt down. Soft giggly

noises sounded from the child audience. In the three times I’ve visited the musical, there

was only one time the audience applauded after the opening song. This was a clear

interaction moment whereby the actress thanked the visitors.

Amy: “Wauw, the decor is amazing!”

This was the first reaction of one of the students when the scene

occurred in an Italian village. Happy music, people in colourful

dresses and bright colours set the joyful introduction of Geppetto.

He was about to finish his marionette Pinocchio, when he thought

of having a real son. With the help of Fay the Fairy, Pinocchio

became a living puppet: A puppet attached to a boy actor. The

actor moved the arms, legs, head and mouth of the puppet. All of

the other actors looked at and played with the puppet, not the

actor behind it. Just like Geppetto, who caused a smile on the face

of the two little girls because he was surprised seeing Pinocchio

moving without any strings. The music of the song ‘Ik hou van

dansen” *I love to dance+ started, but none of the participants

Figure 17. Puppet Pinocchio and actor. Retrieved from http://www.omroepbrabant.nl/?news/236240542/Sprookjesmusical+Pinokkio+in+premi%C3%A8re+in+de+Efteling,+de+foto%E2%80%99s+en+tweets+liegen+niet.aspx

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sang along. Behind the 20-year-olds, a young spectator did listen the song before the visit,

because she sang along.

Pinocchio was alive and needed to go to school. A violist played the tune of the dance

song and Pinocchio got curious. On the right side of the stage, the Fox appeared and called

the Cat to look at the dancing puppet. Before approaching Pinocchio, the Cat farted, which

made the complete audience laugh.

The right door of the auditorium opened and loud clapping and singing resounded

through the theatre: Constanzo arrived with his Marionette Theatre. He demanded the

children to applaud for him, louder and louder. None of the participants or the rest of the

audience applauded with them, only during the song ‘Applaus’ *Applaud]: a cheerful song

about applauding for Constanzo. The music whipped the audience.

After Pinocchio was saved by Fay the Fairy from Constanzo, the marionette

encountered the Fox and Cat. He showed them the five golden pieces he had earned. The

two fellows brought him to the Miracle Meadow where his money would be doubled. After a

conversation, a song and the actual scene at the Meadow, the Fox and Cat finally stole the

money from the sleeping marionette.

Jolanda: “Pff, that scene was just too long. We all knew what would happen.”

The adult woman wasn’t very happy about this scene. In comparison to other ‘adventures’,

the Miracle Meadow took too long.

The left door of the auditorium opened and a child dressed as a donkey carried a cart

inside. The children on and next to the cart were singing and waving, while they walked in

the middle of the theatre right before the audience. They were off to Funland. Signoro

Pericolo invited every child in the theatre to wave and sing in exchange for candy he threw

at the audience. The 20-year-olds didn’t move a muscle. The two sisters got a big smile on

their face because of the word ‘candy’, but they didn’t wave. Sarah was sitting on the edge

of her chair following every thrown candy with her eyes. The most excited reaction came

from Harry. He was waving along with the children. He didn’t want any candy, he was just

excited. Jolanda was kind of embarrassed, but she knew her husband would do that.

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Sarah: “Do you know why I don’t want to go to Funland? There are no parents and no

videogames. I love videogames.”

The last adventure of Pinocchio was pretty scary for most of the participants. Pinocchio

seemed to jump into water (We saw the puppet trying to jump, the lights when off and

we’ve heard a big splash). A few actors, in yellow raincoats, were walking on the walkway in

the middle of the theatre, holding a beautiful fish on a stick. One of the actors was holding

the puppet Pinocchio who was moving like he was swimming. It was a beautiful and calm

image, but then the music changed into the theme song of Jaws and on stage appeared the

silhouette of a big fish.

Amy: “Oh, that’s kind of scary. I totally forgot about that monster”

Shelley: “Okay, I don’t want to go in the sea no more.”

Pinocchio got swallowed and encountered Geppetto inside the stomach. All participants

were listening very carefully, because the scene wasn’t very visible. The students and adults

found it too bad they weren’t able to see clearly what happened inside the belly of the fish.

Luckily, Geppetto and Pinocchio were sneezed out.

The end scene took place inside the house of Geppetto. They were glad they were

home, but got scared from the sleeping Fay who waited for them. Everyone seemed to be

happy, but the moment Fay the Fairy wanted to conjure, she accidently threw her want

away. Pinocchio ran after it. He came back, but this time the puppet didn’t say anything and

just stood still next to a table. “Ik weet dat ik het kan, Ik weet dat ik het kan”* I know I can do

it, I know I can do it]. While singing, Fay accomplished her assignment: in a moment the real

Pinocchio (the actor without the puppet) appeared.

Lynn: “Haha, I saw how they did the change.”

Pinocchio promised Geppetto always to be at his side to travel the world. After that he

would go to school. “I love you my son.” Geppetto and Pinocchio seemed to live happily ever

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after. Happy and emotional music resounded through the theatre. Jolanda couldn’t handle it

anymore and her eyes got wet. She really thought it was beautiful.

It was time for the bow. The audience started to clap,

except for the 20-year-olds. They stayed seated during the end

applause. The other participants followed the rest of the

audience and stood up while clapping.

The performance was over, at least on stage. Some

characters were waiting in the lobby to give visitors the

opportunity to take a picture with them. The adults and 20-

year-olds felt nothing for it, while Sarah really wanted to take a

picture with Fay the Fairy. But she didn’t want to go alone; she

needed her sister. It was very crowded at the Fairy’s side, but

after a few minutes, the picture was taken.

Further analysis

The Pinocchio musical is an example of an interactive performance. The interaction

immediately started with Fay the Fairy talking directly to the audience members. None of

the participants reacted, but that’s probably because almost no visitor gave a kick. As the

show progressed, the audience got loosened up and used to each other. The social influence

started to play a big role during the performance. The visitors were laughing and giggling

together. When a few started clapping, the participants clapped with them. The waving

Signoro Pericolo asked for was mostly done by children. That’s why the 20-year-olds didn’t

move a muscle. The two sisters were a bit shy, because they saw a lot of smaller children

wave. Why the grown up man waved and was excited, you ask? It’s in his character. His wife

explained he always does such things, because he has an outgoing personality. He totally got

up in the moment. In the end, the social influences from outside the social group didn’t have

an effect on the 20-year-olds. They didn’t applaud or stand during the last applause. But in a

sense, there was internal social influence: because no one of their social group was standing

or applauding, all of them stayed seated. One of the students later admitted he didn’t like

the interaction at all. He was just there to see the musical and didn’t want to interact:

especially not with the annoying happy Fairy.

Figure 18. Picture of the two sisters and Fay the Fairy

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All these examples show the interplay between the social and personal context

during the performance. The character and the state of mind of Harry made him waving with

the other children. Because the two sisters thought they were too old to wave, they were

just watching. The 20-year-olds didn’t feel like clapping and because no one else of their

group applauded, they decided not to.

Another interplay between two contexts was also clear: physical and personal.

Remember the adult woman and her wet eyes in the end of the performance. The father’s

wish came true and he received a real son. With the use of touching music, this situation was

affecting Jolanda. Before she entered the Efteling Theatre, she was remembered of the

death of her sister by Luc Portier. Because of this notion, the emotional music kept her and

unconsciously made her think about the sad period. It was in her mind and stimulated by the

music. She unconsciously made a connection between the life of Geppetto and her own,

something that happens when people use their imagination.

Sarah did the same during the scene about Funland. Signoro Pericolo asked the

children to go with him to Funland. The girl replied she didn’t want to. The candy seemed

nice, but in Funland there were no videogames and no parents, like in her own life. She used

her imagination to create the picture of Funland where Pinocchio was heading to. She didn’t

seem to like that image, and if she would have the choice to go, she wouldn’t.

The Pinocchio musical invited visitors to use their imagination at some moments. These

moments encouraged making a link between the fantasised world and the world of the

visitors. The musical didn’t focus directly on ‘being’ a fairytale or fantasy story, but visitors,

the adults and children, were able to see similarities between the fantasy world and their

own. The performance didn’t start with ‘Once upon a time’ and it wasn’t a story being told:

it happened right in front of the audience. Everything that happened was normal for the

actors, and so it was normal for the audience. They were watching a different world and

were sometimes alienated from their daily life. Pinocchio swimming under water, made the

visitors forget their troubles for a moment in a peaceful and calm scene.

The main trigger to use the imagination was the way the Efteling chose to represent

Pinocchio: a puppet attached to a boy actor. The visitor needed to use his imagination to see

the puppet move and not the actor behind it. The 20-year-olds thought there wasn’t enough

room for them to use their imagination. It was just for children. They admitted they weren’t

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able to look beyond the actor. They really saw the boy as Pinocchio. This is different from

the adults. During the whole show, they believed the puppet was moving, because they

didn’t pay attention to the actor. The girls had a dynamic view: sometimes they saw the

puppet, sometimes the young actor. Especially during the songs, they believed in the

puppet.

Because some visitors connected the two worlds together, there was no question of

transcendence, in the way Ankersmit used this term. The visitors didn’t rise above

themselves, because their own lives were captured inside the musical experience. They all

saw a new version of the Pinocchio story. While all participants knew Jiminy Cricket from

Disney for example, only one student really missed this character. Except for the one student

who never saw the Disney movie, everyone knew this character.

Harry: “Jiminy Cricket is really a Disney character. I didn’t care he wasn’t there.”

Because of the different perspective than the story they knew, it was easier to watch the

story as a new narrative. But was the prior knowledge and interpretation layer scrapped off?

No. Remember the remark of Amy: she forgot about the monster in the sea. She was

thinking about the element of the story she already knew. Because all participants

considered the Pinocchio musical of the Efteling as a new version of the well known story,

there has been an authentic experience. But no participant really let go of the prior

knowledge and daily life. They didn’t understand the authentic story as it were, so there was

no question of a historical sensation: no Ankersmit moment.

After the performance, I asked the participants what they thought the meaning of

the musical supposed to be.

Sander: “Yeah, you are not supposed to lie”

Nicole: “I guess so.”

The students thought it was a logical conclusion: just like all the other Pinocchio versions;

you are not supposed to lie. They didn’t really put their mind to it. At this point they didn’t

think the musical was something to learn from. As you will notice later, a few weeks later

they formed a different opinion.

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Shelley: “You are not supposed to go with strangers”

Sarah: “And don’t tell lies.”

Shelley noticed something different from the musical than Sarah or other participants.

Something I didn’t expect, because it was never mentioned. She thought that Pinocchio got

into trouble, not because he lied, but because he went with the wrong people. The youngest

girl thought the musical had the same message as the movie she saw before. It is exactly

what she had expected.

Harry: “Listen to the right people.”

The adults didn’t think ‘not suppose to lie’ was the meaning of the musical. It’s about raising

a child and a child needs to listen to the good advices of the right people, like the father. The

man and woman have three children. Their personal needs came into play.

4.4.3 | After the visit

A few weeks after the visit, I received a mail from the Efteling:

Wat een leuk avontuur beleefde jij met Pinokkio | Maak kans op

4 Efteling-tickets [What a nice adventure you’ve experienced

with Pinocchio| Win 4 Efteling-tickets]. This mail existed of a link

to the Efteling site and the new attraction of Pinocchio in the

Fairytale Forest and a link to a questionnaire.

The questionnaire was a consumer research about the

opinion of the visitor. After some personal questions, the

individual could grade the musical, foyer and staff members. After grading, he was asked for

some improvements. None of the participants filled in this questionnaire. They didn’t feel

the need to do it.

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A few weeks after the visit to the Pinocchio musical, I asked every social group to meet

again.

Harry: “I really, really liked it.”

The point of the conversation was to talk about the period after the musical; did they talk or

think about it once more? What are the things they remember? And so on. I spoke every

social group in a trusted environment, which made the conversation less forced.

While enjoying a cup of tea, the adults were deliberating about the musical and what

they remembered. Both started arguing about Fay the Fairy. Harry found her very annoying,

while the woman thought she was the perfect character for the children. They understood

they watched a children musical, but it was also addressed to adults. Especially Harry loved

the use of music, because he recognised all songs. What they remembered the best was the

decoration and the puppet Pinocchio. They made it really nice, which made it nice to watch.

Four weeks after the adults visited the musical, Harry told me he rented a book about the

story behind the nose of Pinocchio. He really loved the musical and the story and thought

about it a lot. It was a long time ago and it was nice to be remembered with the use of a

performance. Harry was triggered to think more about the Pinocchio story. He was less

interested in the 19th century, and more in the original story itself. Trying to understand

more about the story by looking for more information is also a way of trying to understand

the authenticity of the story: a historical sensation, termed by Ankersmit. The musical itself

was an enjoyable experience which will be remembered some time and triggered Harry to

act. Although they liked the musical, the adults weren’t planning to go to the next Efteling

musical. It was nice for once, but it is not something they were dying to do again.

I met the girls at the scouting, where we all are members. The conversation was

short, because they didn’t remember that much about the experience. They loved it and

were glad they went, but Sarah was only talking about the Blue Fairy. It was and still is her

favourite character of the Pinocchio story. Shelley remembered the Big Fish, because it was

pretty scary. They weren’t talking about the meaning or decoration of the performance at

all. After they got home from the visit, Sarah couldn’t stop talking about it. That lasted half

an hour, but after that night, she didn’t mention the musical or anything from the

experience anymore. Sarah told her mother she wanted to volunteer the next time children

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are asked to play within the musical. She loved watching those children and wanted to be a

part of it the next time.

The students were sitting around the table on the university (Lynn needed to work).

Like the adults, they loved that the musical also addressed to adult visitors. Little jokes and

the use of music made the performance interesting not only for children. They all got great

sympathy for Geppetto. He didn’t perform a lot on stage, but his warm and kind personality

did conquer a place inside the memory of the students. The subject of the conversation

slowly turned from the design of the musical to the content of the story.

Sander: “The Efteling really missed their shot on the story. They gave the wrong

image by using wrong stereotypes.”

Sander is a graduated historian, which made him think about the way the Efteling chose to

represent the education of the 19th century, without using any elements of today’s society:

elements children would understand. In today’s education, it is not easy to truancy from

school, there aren’t a lot travelling theatre’s anymore, and so on. If the Efteling did focus on

today’s elements, he guessed he would have liked it better. This remark caused a way to

think about the education of the 19th century. The three students analysed the authentic

story that has been told by the musical. In the past, it wasn’t naturally children would go to

school. That’s why Pinocchio was able to experience a lot of adventures without many

people knowing he was gone. Especially the truancy of Pinocchio was an element which

made the students realise it was a completely different world. The three didn’t use any of

their prior knowledge of the Pinocchio story: they realised they experienced a moment from

the world in the 19th century.

Amy: “I think I know what it’s all about.”

The Ankersmit moment has been reached, together in a social context, not during, but

weeks after the performance. It started with the comparison with today’s society and lead to

deeper thoughts about what they had seen. With loosing the picture of today, they were

able to understand the authentic story.

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5 | Conclusion

Using the theories of Falk & Dierking, (2013), Ankersmit (2007) and Fischer-Lichte (n.d.), I

have set a visualized hypothetical model to illustrate the Pinocchio musical experience. Does

this model correspond with the analysis of the collected data or can we point out some

differences? When there is conformity, we can conclude how the Efteling Theatre creates

the full Pinocchio musical experience, viewed from the visitor’s perspective.

Figure 19. Visualised hypothetical model

As expected, within each social group, the Pinocchio musical experience has a social

character, from the beginning to the end. Before the visit, members of the group share their

experiences and knowledge; during the performance actors and spectators interact with

each other and after the visit, individuals talk and think about the experience, in varying

degrees.

Next to the interaction, the performance allows the audience to use their

imagination during the show. While focussing on children, the use of imagination also

applies to the adult and student audience members. Contributing to the Pinocchio

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experience is the way the Efteling chose to represent the marionette: a wooden puppet

attached to a real boy actor. Without any imagination the actor will be seen and Pinocchio

doesn’t become ‘real’.

The Pinocchio musical is a show for children, but, surprisingly the two young girls weren’t

the most captured audience members. Of course, they liked the show, but the adults

seemed more committed to the story, especially Harry. They were carried along with the

story; Harry answered to the interactions with the actors and Jolanda was even moved by

the story while reflecting to her own life.

Besides, in the data we found that the Pinocchio experience of the young girls almost

immediately stopped after the visit. The older visitors were incited to act in response to the

Pinocchio musical even after a few days. The adult man, Harry, was intrigued to look up

more information about the story of the marionette. He wanted to expand his knowledge

and experience. The Efteling didn’t give him that opportunity during the show, but when

Harry found time to reflect the story, he tried to understand the complete story. He tried to

find a level of contact between history and reality, which also applied for another social

group. The Pinocchio experience continued after the visit, also for the students. Data

showed the students talked and later reflected about their experience. We could say this

behaviour can be expected from a student, because it is required of them to look beyond the

surface of a case study. Within their social group, the students thought about the choices of

the Efteling and the way the 19th century has been presented. The students weren’t

captured by the story during the performance, but some time later when they got time to

think about it. What we observe here, the Ankersmit moment, expected during the

performance, is experienced afterwards by the students and adult visitor. The Ankersmit

moment never exists for the young visitors.

In conclusion, the Pinocchio musical experience is overall a social experience, inviting the

audience to use their imagination. While aiming at children, the most authentic experience is

gained, not during, but afterwards by the adult and student audience members. With the

use of the analysis of the data and the found new emphases, we can change the

hypothetical model into the model of the Efteling Pinocchio musical experience.

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Let me explain the new aspects:

- Deciding whether or not to go doesn’t rely on the prior knowledge of the Pinocchio

story or the Efteling Theatre. During conversations with the social group members,

the prior knowledge is a topic of talking.

- Planning your way to the Efteling isn’t a big issue, because the spectators once have

been there. They all chose their own easy way of transport.

- Inside the lobby, the Efteling Theatre is full of elements referring to the Efteling, not

to the Pinocchio story, which is why the ‘cup of coffee’ is surrounded with Efteling

logos.

- The performance is full of interaction, answered by young and adult audience

members. Afterwards, the experience of the young participants is stopped earlier

than those of the adults and students. The latter groups use some time to think and

talk about the experience and story of Pinocchio.

- The latter is why the Ankersmit moment takes place later than expected: not during,

but after the visit. The adult man and the students got the time to think about the

experience, which lead to an authentic experience after the visit.

Figure 20. The Efteling Pinocchio Musical Experience

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6 | Application

The Efteling Pinocchio musical experience is analysed, a renewed

model is developed, but that’s not the end of this show. This thesis

isn’t limited to one particular case study. The developed model can be

applied to other musicals based on a known story in order to

understand the created experience. I’ll take you to 1940 when the

Germans attacked the Netherlands. We will apply the developed

experience model to the Dutch musical Soldaat van Oranje.

In October 2010, the Dutch musical Soldaat van Oranje premiered in the Theatre hangar on

former military airport Valkenburg. The musical is about the Second World War and it’s a

biography about the adventures of Erik Hazelfhoff Roelzema, a student from Leiden, and his

friends. The story previously appeared in a book form and a Dutch movie.

Before the visit

On May 18th 2016 I went to Soldaat van Oranje with Harry and Jolanda. The motivations to

go were based on the stories of other visitors who went before and the fact that the musical

was already in the theatre for over five years. So, it must be a good performance, otherwise

it wouldn’t be in theatre that long. Besides, it would be a cosy night out with the three of us.

Why didn’t we go before? Those reasons were pretty simple: distance/time and

costs. The journey by car took one and a half hour away. In total it took three hours of

travelling. The musical itself took three and a half hours, including break, which will lead to a

night out of six and a half hours. Besides, the cheapest tickets were already €35,-, third rate.

Because we needed to travel that long, we wanted better places. Second rate places cost

from €55,-. For three persons it would be a very long and expensive night out.

On our way to the theatre, we ate at a pancakes restaurant. It was a quick bite,

because we didn’t want to be late. Our conversations weren’t about the movie we all saw,

but more about the commercials we saw on television. These formed our expectations.

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During the visit

The theatre is located on a former airport and you need to park your car on the runway.

Walking towards the theatre made you feel quite small, because of the idea of walking upon

an airbase. The foyer of the theatre hangar is very large with a high ceiling. The feeling of

being small didn’t end. It wasn’t necessarily a bad feeling, because therefore I stared my

eyes out.

Before entering the auditorium, the visitor

was able to visit a small exposition with stories of

the Second World War. We heard and read some

stories. Harry, Jolanda and me went to a few war

museums before, so we were interested in those

small stories. The surrounding and the exposition

are a way to take the visitor to the time and place

where the story of the musical takes place.

It was time to take our seat. The auditorium seemed the same as other theatre auditoriums

with red chairs, but the construction is different. There is no use of moving decor pieces, no,

the tribune of the audience turns to the right scene. Moving panels close of the other scenes

making the right scene visible. The musical really ‘takes’ the audience to the next part of the

story. The actors can walk with them; they walk to the scene where to the audience will be

turned. As a visitor, you are part of the story. We all knew the tribune would turn, but the

first time we felt the turning movement: “Wauw” (all three in unison).

To totally forget about the rotation, we needed to use our imagination. It wasn’t the

mechanism who took us to the next scene, no, it was the story performed by the actors.

During the performance there is no direct interaction: no actor is talking directly to

the audience. This doesn’t mean we didn’t react. Because we felt captured by the story, we

laughed, applauded or were stuck in silence.

After almost two hours, it was time for a break for half an hour. It gave us the time to

think about what we have seen so far. We were all amazed about the quality, but most of all

about the story itself. It was the only topic of conversation. We all saw the movie, we all

know what happened during the Second World War, but we figured this was a story of its

own. Halfway through the break, we all felt the need to visit the exposition once more, by

Figure 21. Picture of small exhibition, taken by me on May 18

th 2016

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ourselves. It was a moment to reflect on what we’ve just experienced and what happened

decades ago.

Figure 22. Photo cast. Retrieved from http://www.soldaatvanoranje.nl/gallery/fotos/scenefotos_cast_ix/29

After the visit

On our way home, we couldn’t stop talking about the quality of the musical. We were

amazed by the way the producers chose to capture the audience.

The next day, I was all by myself and thought about the previous night. I didn’t regret

going to the musical at all, because it felt like a unique experience. Something I shouldn’t

have missed. I didn’t think about the story itself, but more about the experience and what I

actually saw and felt.

In conclusion, I could argue the Soldaat van Oranje experience broadly corresponds with the

Pinocchio musical experience. There is only one major difference: the authentic experience

(Ankersmit moment). The way the audience was captured during the performance of

Soldaat van Oranje helped them understand the story behind the musical. Those students

really fought against the Germans and really helped a lot of people. This authentic

experience was gained during the performance instead of afterwards, like we’ve seen at

Pinocchio. We had more time to think about it, because of the break, and as an audience

member, I was taken along with the characters like I was part of it.

Thus, a musical performance is most of all a social experience. When the producers chose to

use physical elements referring to the musical, the visitors sooner have the opportunity to

feel part of the story. This is necessary to gain an authentic experience during the

performance. The most important element of understanding the authentic story is the

opportunity to think and consider yourself part of the story being told.

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Thank you for your attention.

I hope you enjoyed the show.

And remember...

Think and talk about what you have seen

In order to understand your experience!

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