Sicilian Puppet Theatre

COMENIUS MEETING AUGUSTA FEBRUARY 18th 2014ITALY

CLASSE II C LICEO SCIENTIFICO

Workshop in Italian traditional

Arts & Crafts

“Sicilian Marionette”

Opera dei Pupi

• traditional form of Sicilian entertainment

• a core symbol of Sicilian folk-art

• integral to the Island's cultural identity

Video Sicilian Opera dei Pupi

Unesco has designated Sicilian Puppet theatre

as part of humanity’s “”oral and intangible heritage”

and has devised a plan to save it from exinction.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ql7DxcWILE

Origins the Opera dei Pupi emerged in Sicily at the beginning of the nineteenth century but its

roots stretch back to at least the 15th century.

Puppets and marionettes were a popular form of entertainment throughout Medieval

Europe for all classes people.

It is probable that the earliest performances involved local

history and folklore and enjoyed great success among the island’s

working classes.

Themes

• various periods of Sicilian history;• works of literature;• folklore and comed;.• the Norman knights against the Saracens; • the lyric poetry of the Troubadours;• the epic tales of chivalry known as the

Chansons de Geste (the songs of deeds).

The Opera dei Pupi also covers subjects from classical Greece and

Rome such as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.

Religious and Biblical performances can include tales

from the Old Testament, including the tale of the Exodus.

Features• Dialogue improvised, even if the plot remains the

same;• Swordfights, jousts and battles with monsters or

sorceresses;• When a hero slashes with his sword, limbs can fall

from the villain. In some performances the wounds actually bleed, the blood being made from beet juice;

• Much of Sicily's history has been violent and over the centuries it has imprinted itself in this most traditional form of entertainment.

Heroes

Orlando

Reynald

Roger Godfrey

Dame

Agricane

The villains

Alcina

In Sicily these theatres • are family-run businesses;• employ traditional methods;• use wooden marionettes on

strings and metal wires.

The three main Sicilian puppet schools

• different size and shape of the puppets;• different operating techniques;

• different variety of colorful stage backdrops.

• PALERMO• CATANIA• SIRACUSA

Video

• Cardboard or posterboard,• Pencil, marker, paint sharp

scissors,• Wire brads, hole puncher,• 2 chopsticks or pencils, • tape,• needle, • fishing line,• school glue,

Workshop How to make a puppet

Structure and body

1. Draw your design

• Lay the cardboard or poster board on a flat surface;

• Sketch out individual body parts for the marionette;

• The puppet will need two separate arms, two separate legs and a torso section with the head attached.

2. Cut out the pieces

Decorate the sketched puppet with markes, crayons or paint and cut

out the pieces.3. Lay out your puppet• Assemble the puppet face-up on

a flat surface;• Lay the torso piece down ;• arrange the arms and legs on the

marionette so that a section of each overlaps with the torso piece.

4. Create the joints

• Use a hole punch at each joint location, one hole on each piece where they will be joined;

• Push a brass brad trough each joint in the puppet;

• punch holes in the paper if it is too thick to be pierced by the brad alone.

5. Create the handle

• Lay down two chopsticks or pencils to form a cross;

• Tape the stick togethere where they intersect.

6. Attach the strings

• Thread a needle with fishing line;• Piercing a hole trough the

cardboard just above the knees and the wrists;

• knot the line and draw the fishing line through.

• Knot and cut the line after making each attachment.

7. Connect the strings

• Knot the fishing line extending from the puppet’s shoulders to the center of the cross;

• Knot each of the four strings connected fo the puppet’s limbs to an individual arm of the cross;

• Dot school glue on each knot to keep it from untying.

Comenius « European Fableway to Human Values”

THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTIONWE HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT

•Class 2C Liceo Scientifico•Aurora Di Grande – Sarah Di Grande – Giorgia Giangrande•Mattia Petracca – Fabio Visentini – Davide Falcotti