The history of Sicilian puppets: discovering the ancient tradition of puppetry
L‘puppet opera is one of the most famous expressions of popular culture in Sicily. But what are puppets? The name is derived from the Latin
pupus
, bambinello, and is used to refer to the puppets typical of Sicilian theater.
The custom features them in performances inspired by the chivalric theme and the oral tradition of minstrelsy. But what are the stories that have been most often performed in Sicilian puppets? The characters and stories in the well-known play embody the heroic spirit typical of the Chanson de geste medieval and the epic poems of Ariosto and Tasso such as Orlando furioso and Gerusalemme liberata. But one of the most represented themes is the carolingian cycle starring Charlemagne and his paladins fighting against the Saracens, a threat to Christendom.
Certainly curiosity leads one to wonder how Sicilian puppets came into being. To answer this question, it is necessary to make a distinction between puppet, marionette and pupo. The puppet is animated from below through the fingers of the hand or a wooden rod, while the puppet Is operated from above exclusively through wires. I puppets, on the other hand, are distinguished in that although they are operated from above, instead of wires they have a metal rod inside the head and to move the right arm. In doing so, the unknown inventor of these technical devices ensured that the movements were more decisive and rapid, suitable for the combat scenes typical of the battles brought to the stage.
Proclaimed by theUnesco Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2021, the work of the puppets is definitely one of the traditions of Sicily that has fascinated adults and children for centuries and which we definitely want to tell you about.
The origin of the puppet opera
Knowing when the puppet opera was born is crucial to understanding the themes dealt with during the performances of the famous Sicilian puppets.
Consider that in Sicily there were already performances with puppets in pageboys (without armor) used to tell farces, a theatrical genre with an exaggerated comic, almost grotesque character. Beginning in the nineteenth century, aided by Romantic interest in the Middle Ages, the custom of staging episodes from the Franco-Norman epic of chivalry spread, supplanting all other genres. The Sicilian puppets, therefore, clad themselves in 16th-century forged armor impersonating the paladins of France and presenting themselves as bearers of moral values in the struggle between European and Islamic civilizations of which Sicily itself was the scene.
Understanding which puppets are most popular in puppetry is very simple as the characters Have well-defined iconographic features. There are both male and female puppets without and with armor, such as Angelica or Charlemagne. The armor reflects nineteenth-century Romantic fashion, and according to the forge and, in general, clothing they stand out:
- i Christians with kind faces, skirts, cloaks and house emblems, so as to distinguish them and make them recognizable to the audience during performances;
- i Saracens with more pronounced facial features, pants, turban, and decorations of half moons and stars on their weapons;
- the women With prosperous breasts;
- i Magonians, Christian traitors recognizable by their black robes and insignia with macabre symbols on their armor.
As is often the case in Sicilian culture, however, puppet opera has seen the emergence over time of two distinct traditions, that of Catania and that of Palermo. Let’s find out about them together!
The history of Sicilian puppets in the Catania tradition
A Catania l’
Opra
of the puppets was born thanks to Don Gaetano Crimi who opened the first theater in the city in 1835. From 1921 to the present, the tradition is carried on by the
Naples Brothers
and adapted to the needs of an audience now increasingly conditioned by technology.
From the city, puppet shows spread throughout eastern Sicily, particularly in the provinces of Catania, Messina and Syracuse. Here and in Acireale, moreover, the following are attested. further stylistic variations that see a reduced size of character structure, the metal rod of the right arm being longer and hooked, and speakers giving voice to male and female characters.
Catanese puppets, therefore, present specific characteristics such as:
- A padded skeleton to make them heavier;
- A weight of 30 kilograms;
- An average height of 110 to 130 centimeters;
I warriors always wield the sword in the absence of a wire that acts as a link between the weapon and the scabbard, while the legs are not articulated as they are better suited to support the weight of the puppet.
The stage is wider at the expense of depth, and the
manianti
(riggers) operate there from a raised deck located behind the seabed. Le voices of
parraturi
(talkers) vary in timbre according to the male character while the women voice the female characters. They also act as directors by issuing commands based on a script.
Sicilian puppets in the Palermo tradition
A Palermo, on the other hand, the tradition of Sicilian puppets is carried on by the
Mimmo Cuticchio Association
which has been operating since the 1970s with performances drawn from different repertoires in addition to the classical ones.
Unlike the Catanese, the palermitan puppets have small weight and size (between 5 and 10 kilograms per 90 cm in height). The legs are articulated so as to facilitate the act of drawing the sword from the scabbard. The puppeteer generally stands to the left of the stage, backstage, giving voice to both male and female characters. So the stage is deeper at the expense of width.
Same figurative mechanics are also evident in the work of puppets that spread to Calabria, Apulia and Campania. In Naples, in particular, in addition to stories from the Carolingian cycle and Charlemagne’s paladins, historical-romantic stories typical of Neapolitan folklore are depicted.
Representing one of the most characteristic cultural aspects of the island, Sicilian puppets today have a very special museum space dedicated to them: the
Ethnographic Museum “Giuseppe Pitrè”
. Located in Palermo, a rich collection consisting of about 4,000 objects is housed here, and certainly noteworthy are precisely the beautiful Sicilian puppets.
Annapasqua Logrieco