Puppet Connections to Tradition PDF

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Class notes from theater HL...

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Opera dei Pupi Opera dei Pupi is an Italian puppetry tradition that began in Sicily at the start of the fifteenth century. It became hugely popular amongst the working class, as it was due to the large variety of topics covered during the performances. Many of the performances were deeply rooted in poems from the Italian Renaissance, old medieval tales, and stories about the lives of saints and bandits. Opera dei Pupi was split into two different, yet very similar styles. Palermo was the style most popular on the Western side of Sicily, whereas Catania was popular on the east. The main difference between the two styles was the difference in size/weight of the puppet and in the mechanical operating system of the marionettes. However, in both styles the marionettes are covered in elaborate metal armor and the strings they are hung from are iron rods. This type of puppetry consisted of large, detailed marionettes (puppets controlled from above by a string) against colorful backgrounds. The marionettes were crafted by skilled craftspeople and were carved, painted, and fabricated all by hand. The puppets and puppeteers relied heavily on intense expressions and stories to grab the attention of audiences. The marionettes are made of wood and are based off of traditional characters from folktales and old Italian comedies and are usually between 80 and 120 cm long. The dialogue in Opera dei Pupi is usually improvised by the actors and therefore the puppeteers must be able to not only operate the puppet, but also think on the spot and work together to create a story for each performance. One of the defining characteristics of Opera dei Pupi is the violent sword fights and battles that occur between the puppets. This is due to Sicily’s violent history, which has left its mark on many of their traditional forms of entertainment. The stories also rely heavily on leaving the audience with a sense of justice and a respect for freedom and patriotism. Due to the economic boom in the 1950s Opera dei Pupi’s theatrical foundations were threatened and many other theaters of its kind were forced to shut down. This left Opera dei Pupi as being the only uninterrupted theatrical form of its kind in the present day. We can look towards Sicilian puppetry or Opera dei Pupi when making decisions for some of our puppets. For example the element of improvisation. Since Into the Woods can not be improvised, we can not have any puppets improvising dialogue but we can attempt to create an improvised timing amongst the puppets in order to maintain their comedic aspect. By feeling the tone of the scene and the other actors on stage the puppeteers may be able to decide when to say their lines, or how to say each line based on the energy on stage each night. For Into the Woods we may also be able to use the marionette idea for the giant’s hands/feet by attaching them to strings so they are controlled by the puppeteers upstairs on the catwalk above the stage. http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/opera-dei-pupi-sicilian-puppet-theatre-00011 http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art29.htm

http://www.lifeinitaly.com/tourism/sicily/sicily-puppet-theatre.asp http://oubliettemagazine.com/2014/01/09/lopera-dei-pupi-le-marionette-siciliane-importatedalla-spagna-nell800/ http://www.fratellinapoli.it/storia-opera-pupi/...