Mechanics of the Sicilian puppet
The structure of the Sicilian puppet is based on the classical European marionette, but unlike this, which is controlled from above using long cords, the Sicilian version is operated using two metal rods, one running through the head and the other linked to the right first.These rods enable the puppet to be controlled with precise rhythmic actions. In addition, there are four cords: one for moving the left hand, one for unsheathing the sword, one for lowering and raising the visor, and one for enabling it to kneel.
The armour is made in brass or alpacca, with copper decoration: the body consists of nine parts (hands or fists or joined hands, thighs, shins, feet, chest) that are assembled by means of metal links. The craftsmen who make the puppets have their own models on which the armour is moulded: he then creates the decoration by means of cutting, piercing, hammering, brazing and other techniques. Details are based on frescoes by Renaissance painters such as Botticelli, Pinturicchio and Mantegna.
The complete puppet weighs over 28 pounds and is over a yard high. The puppeteer uses a sling that takes at least part of the puppets weight during the performance. The puppeteer controls the puppets from the wings: his feet (that play an essential part in cadencing the battle scenes) are on the same level as the stage on which the puppets walk.
Each puppet has certain features that help its identification: for example, Roland has a Latin cross on the shield, breastplate and visor (and is often depicted as distinctly cross-eyed); Renaud has a rampant lion, Oliver the sun, Astolfo the lily, Ganelon an M and so forth.
Transformation of the Opera dei Pupi
From the 19th century to about 1950, LOpera dei Pupi, or the Sicilian puppet theatre, remained virtually unchanged, but in recent years, performances have been modified in many ways.
In the past, a puppeteer, when performing for a high-class, cultured audience, attempted to improve his language (which was in any case a mixture of ancient literary Italian, contemporary Italian and the Sicilian dialect), making it more correct and better acceptable within the serious performances that were staged; alternatively he accentuated his mistakes and exploited their comedy value. Up until the 1960s, the serious version (with rare exceptions) was practised only very little (as few puppeteers had studied, and everything was passed down orally from generation to generation).
Today, most puppeteers prefer to avoid the comic version, as they take their art into serious consideration, and many even take lessons in diction.Originally, performances were accompanied by small bands of string instruments, but today these have largely been replaced by recordings.
In the late 1950s, the art of Sicilian puppetry was in danger of being lost for ever, due to the ever-diminishing local audiences. It survived as a tourist attraction, and as an educational activity in schools, parishes, trade fairs etc.
To this end, the complex and voluminous performances had to be rewritten. Whereas traditionally the epic saga took place over literally hundreds of performances, in which the finest psychological and dramatic details were developed at length by means of largely improvised variations on the basic theme, the modern performance had to be complete in itself. This led to a great simplification of the story, and a greater emphasis on scenery and special stage effects. The new modified perfomances were eventually written, and have thus developed a new repertoire, flanking the old, traditional plays that are in any case documented by early writers.
There has been some debate, in the restricted circles of the puppeteers, as to whether to maintain the use of improvisation, or whether to use written texts, perhaps even recorded on tape. Today, both techniques still exist.
However, even performances that do not use written texts are far more controlled than in the past, because the puppeteers have a more restricted repertoire, repeat the same plays more often, and so develop a greater knowledge of these performances.
The role of the Troubador in Sicilian popular tradition
In popular culture of the past, narrative performance was very important, and, for societies possessing no generally shared form of writing, it was the principal means of perpetuating collective memory.
Troubadors recounted the same epic subjects that are depicted in Sicilian puppetry, using just their voice, with a story construction based on episodes. They used a sword or stick to amplify and underline their gestures, and they improvised with an unusual, mannered, highly rhythmic vocal style, in alternation with simpler forms of spoken dialogue. Certain words were underlined by stamping the feet, and, during the most dramatic moments in the action, the spectators followed the rhythm, stamping their feet together, often entirely covering the voice of the troubador. But as the audience were familiar with the story anyway, this was no problem!Often the troubadors were also puppeteers, and so the vocal characterization used in puppet theatre and in purely vocal narrations was similar.
Both in puppetry and in narration, voice is the only human element used in the representation, and so takes on particular importance. As regards quality of voice (volume, tone, timbre, vibrato), the troubador used three registers: one for narration, one for commentary on the action (dramatic, sad, happy, ironic) and one for direct speech of the characters (modifying the voice according to age, sex and emotion).
Teatro Drammatico dei Pupi di Onofrio Sanicola
Milano -20129-Via Plinio 60-tf.0229524449-6694056-4230249
Monreale-90046 Via B.Dacquisto n.33- 0916400126-6409441
sanicolapupi@tiscalinet.it--www.operadeipupi.moonfruit.com
The Paladins of France in popular tradition.
I sing of knights and ladies, of love and arms, of courtly chivalry, of courageous deeds - all from the time when the Moors crossed the sea from Africa and wrought havoc in France....The tales recounted by the Sicilian puppet theatre are based on the epics that developed around Charlemagne (742-814 A.D.) and his warriors engaged in endless struggles against Saracen invaders. But the bare bones of history were rapidly elaborated by oral and then literary reworkings. Already in 883 A.D., the Gesta Karoli Magni contained more legend than fact, and, after Charles disputed canonization in 1165, the Vita Sancti Karoli attributed miracles to him before and after his death. Other tales were based on historical fact, such as the Chanson de Roland, a French chanson de geste that dates to the 11th century. Charlemagne and his twelve paladins, representing the flower of French chivalry, were depicted as noble, courageous, gallant and pious heroes. In fact the 11th and 12th centuries were the age of the Crusades, and the moral climate of those days was incorporated into the story of four centuries earlier. As time went by, the Chanson de Roland was rewritten and enlarged, and each time the story become more elaborate. Even King Arther and his knights were included by 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes version. In Italy, the legend was further developed by a host of storytellers before Luigi Pulci penned his Morgante Maggiore in 1482. This was followed by Orlando Inammorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo, and then by Lodovico Ariostos masteripiece Orlando Furioso. However the legend had been a part of popular tradition in Italy well before. It is thought that so-called canta-storie, trouba-dors, or rinaldi (because they sang of Rinaldo, Re-naud) were already recounting the story of Charles and his paladins in 1000 A.D. and likewise the ancestors of the puppet theatres were also performing in village squares up and down the country at the same time. As writers gradually perfected their literary reworkings of the original material, the pupari or puppeteers adopted it to suit the rhythms of their dramatizations. In the 19th century, the Sicilian writer Giusto Lo Dico produced a monu-mental work, the History of the Paladins of France, for the first time in prose. This bec-ame the bible for puppeteers, who, in the prevailing climate of Roman-ticism, developed a cycle of plays in which the epic was told in such detail that it could be concluded only in the space of a year with one performance a day! Puppet theatres existed in most towns and cities of southern Italy, and survived up until the 1950s when audiences diminished and the plays became little more than tourist attractions. Today, very few pupari are left. Maestro Onofrio Sanicola, a Sicilian who has lived in Milan for many years, founded the company LOpera dei Pupi here in order to keep alive the tradition that he remembers so vividly. Maestro Sanicola, as well as maintaining the traditional per-formances based on the cycle La Chanson de Roland, has also done a great deal to introduce new themes to this form of theatre, such as the Passion, the Iliad, the Trojan wars, and Medieval epics. Sanicola and his company perform regularly in Milan, Rome and Palermo, though, in accordance with tradition, the theatre is transportable and can be mounted in virtually any location. This enables him to perform for schools, village festivals, associations and so forth. In fact his objective is to conserve and enhance the Sicilian puppet theatre tradition, presenting it the world over.
The traditional conventions used in performances
Just as the texts used in Sicilian puppet theatre gradually became standardized over centuries performance, the scenes also became part of tradition, to a degree, while of course leaving room for the improvisation that was an integral part of the art of puppeteering. For example, heroes always come on stage from the left (from the spectators point of view), while secondary personages and villains emerge from the right. Certain scenes have developed a particular combination of music, incidental noises, the sequence of entrances of the characters, and so forth. In particular, there are 18 typical scenes for which fixed and variable characteristics are defined. These include:
Council - battle - liberation of a prisoner - removal of a spell or curse - departure for a mission - soliloquy
In particular, the Battle scenes are extraordinary in their symbolism. They consists of a succession of one-to-one duels, starting with the least important figures (ordinary soldiers) and successively the most important (the paladins). Only the Christian heroes can face and kill the Saracens: the puppets of the latter are specially prepared so that they lose their head or even split into two.The obligatory movements preceding a battle include the lowering of the visor, unsheathing the sword, and taking up the on guard position. There may also be vocal preparations, such as challenges, declarations and so forth.The fight itself is based on rhythmic, symmetrical movements, accompanied by the furious pounding of the puppeteers heels, and the music produced by a street organ. The combination of these elements transforms a rite of death into a sort of dance: death becomes, in this form of theatre, a fundamental part in the process of life. In this sense, LOpera dei Pupi can assist us in understanding the complex attitude to life that is typical of the Sicilian people.
Teatro Drammatico dei Pupi di Onofrio Sanicola
Milano 20129 -Via Plinio 60 Tf.0229524449-6694056 Fax 0220408392
E-mail: sanicolapupi@tiscalinet.it www.operadeipupi.moonfruit.com
Monreale-Pa - 90046 - Via B. Dacquisto 33 - Tf 091 6409441-0916400126
The structure of the Sicilian puppet is based on the classical European marionette, but unlike this, which is controlled from above using long cords, the Sicilian version is operated using two metal rods, one running through the head and the other linked to the right first.These rods enable the puppet to be controlled with precise rhythmic actions. In addition, there are four cords: one for moving the left hand, one for unsheathing the sword, one for lowering and raising the visor, and one for enabling it to kneel.
The armour is made in brass or alpacca, with copper decoration: the body consists of nine parts (hands or fists or joined hands, thighs, shins, feet, chest) that are assembled by means of metal links. The craftsmen who make the puppets have their own models on which the armour is moulded: he then creates the decoration by means of cutting, piercing, hammering, brazing and other techniques. Details are based on frescoes by Renaissance painters such as Botticelli, Pinturicchio and Mantegna.
The complete puppet weighs over 28 pounds and is over a yard high. The puppeteer uses a sling that takes at least part of the puppets weight during the performance. The puppeteer controls the puppets from the wings: his feet (that play an essential part in cadencing the battle scenes) are on the same level as the stage on which the puppets walk.
Each puppet has certain features that help its identification: for example, Roland has a Latin cross on the shield, breastplate and visor (and is often depicted as distinctly cross-eyed); Renaud has a rampant lion, Oliver the sun, Astolfo the lily, Ganelon an M and so forth.
Transformation of the Opera dei Pupi
From the 19th century to about 1950, LOpera dei Pupi, or the Sicilian puppet theatre, remained virtually unchanged, but in recent years, performances have been modified in many ways.
In the past, a puppeteer, when performing for a high-class, cultured audience, attempted to improve his language (which was in any case a mixture of ancient literary Italian, contemporary Italian and the Sicilian dialect), making it more correct and better acceptable within the serious performances that were staged; alternatively he accentuated his mistakes and exploited their comedy value. Up until the 1960s, the serious version (with rare exceptions) was practised only very little (as few puppeteers had studied, and everything was passed down orally from generation to generation).
Today, most puppeteers prefer to avoid the comic version, as they take their art into serious consideration, and many even take lessons in diction.Originally, performances were accompanied by small bands of string instruments, but today these have largely been replaced by recordings.
In the late 1950s, the art of Sicilian puppetry was in danger of being lost for ever, due to the ever-diminishing local audiences. It survived as a tourist attraction, and as an educational activity in schools, parishes, trade fairs etc.
To this end, the complex and voluminous performances had to be rewritten. Whereas traditionally the epic saga took place over literally hundreds of performances, in which the finest psychological and dramatic details were developed at length by means of largely improvised variations on the basic theme, the modern performance had to be complete in itself. This led to a great simplification of the story, and a greater emphasis on scenery and special stage effects. The new modified perfomances were eventually written, and have thus developed a new repertoire, flanking the old, traditional plays that are in any case documented by early writers.
There has been some debate, in the restricted circles of the puppeteers, as to whether to maintain the use of improvisation, or whether to use written texts, perhaps even recorded on tape. Today, both techniques still exist.
However, even performances that do not use written texts are far more controlled than in the past, because the puppeteers have a more restricted repertoire, repeat the same plays more often, and so develop a greater knowledge of these performances.
The role of the Troubador in Sicilian popular tradition
In popular culture of the past, narrative performance was very important, and, for societies possessing no generally shared form of writing, it was the principal means of perpetuating collective memory.
Troubadors recounted the same epic subjects that are depicted in Sicilian puppetry, using just their voice, with a story construction based on episodes. They used a sword or stick to amplify and underline their gestures, and they improvised with an unusual, mannered, highly rhythmic vocal style, in alternation with simpler forms of spoken dialogue. Certain words were underlined by stamping the feet, and, during the most dramatic moments in the action, the spectators followed the rhythm, stamping their feet together, often entirely covering the voice of the troubador. But as the audience were familiar with the story anyway, this was no problem!Often the troubadors were also puppeteers, and so the vocal characterization used in puppet theatre and in purely vocal narrations was similar.
Both in puppetry and in narration, voice is the only human element used in the representation, and so takes on particular importance. As regards quality of voice (volume, tone, timbre, vibrato), the troubador used three registers: one for narration, one for commentary on the action (dramatic, sad, happy, ironic) and one for direct speech of the characters (modifying the voice according to age, sex and emotion).
Teatro Drammatico dei Pupi di Onofrio Sanicola
Milano -20129-Via Plinio 60-tf.0229524449-6694056-4230249
Monreale-90046 Via B.Dacquisto n.33- 0916400126-6409441
sanicolapupi@tiscalinet.it--www.operadeipupi.moonfruit.com
The Paladins of France in popular tradition.
I sing of knights and ladies, of love and arms, of courtly chivalry, of courageous deeds - all from the time when the Moors crossed the sea from Africa and wrought havoc in France....The tales recounted by the Sicilian puppet theatre are based on the epics that developed around Charlemagne (742-814 A.D.) and his warriors engaged in endless struggles against Saracen invaders. But the bare bones of history were rapidly elaborated by oral and then literary reworkings. Already in 883 A.D., the Gesta Karoli Magni contained more legend than fact, and, after Charles disputed canonization in 1165, the Vita Sancti Karoli attributed miracles to him before and after his death. Other tales were based on historical fact, such as the Chanson de Roland, a French chanson de geste that dates to the 11th century. Charlemagne and his twelve paladins, representing the flower of French chivalry, were depicted as noble, courageous, gallant and pious heroes. In fact the 11th and 12th centuries were the age of the Crusades, and the moral climate of those days was incorporated into the story of four centuries earlier. As time went by, the Chanson de Roland was rewritten and enlarged, and each time the story become more elaborate. Even King Arther and his knights were included by 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes version. In Italy, the legend was further developed by a host of storytellers before Luigi Pulci penned his Morgante Maggiore in 1482. This was followed by Orlando Inammorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo, and then by Lodovico Ariostos masteripiece Orlando Furioso. However the legend had been a part of popular tradition in Italy well before. It is thought that so-called canta-storie, trouba-dors, or rinaldi (because they sang of Rinaldo, Re-naud) were already recounting the story of Charles and his paladins in 1000 A.D. and likewise the ancestors of the puppet theatres were also performing in village squares up and down the country at the same time. As writers gradually perfected their literary reworkings of the original material, the pupari or puppeteers adopted it to suit the rhythms of their dramatizations. In the 19th century, the Sicilian writer Giusto Lo Dico produced a monu-mental work, the History of the Paladins of France, for the first time in prose. This bec-ame the bible for puppeteers, who, in the prevailing climate of Roman-ticism, developed a cycle of plays in which the epic was told in such detail that it could be concluded only in the space of a year with one performance a day! Puppet theatres existed in most towns and cities of southern Italy, and survived up until the 1950s when audiences diminished and the plays became little more than tourist attractions. Today, very few pupari are left. Maestro Onofrio Sanicola, a Sicilian who has lived in Milan for many years, founded the company LOpera dei Pupi here in order to keep alive the tradition that he remembers so vividly. Maestro Sanicola, as well as maintaining the traditional per-formances based on the cycle La Chanson de Roland, has also done a great deal to introduce new themes to this form of theatre, such as the Passion, the Iliad, the Trojan wars, and Medieval epics. Sanicola and his company perform regularly in Milan, Rome and Palermo, though, in accordance with tradition, the theatre is transportable and can be mounted in virtually any location. This enables him to perform for schools, village festivals, associations and so forth. In fact his objective is to conserve and enhance the Sicilian puppet theatre tradition, presenting it the world over.
The traditional conventions used in performances
Just as the texts used in Sicilian puppet theatre gradually became standardized over centuries performance, the scenes also became part of tradition, to a degree, while of course leaving room for the improvisation that was an integral part of the art of puppeteering. For example, heroes always come on stage from the left (from the spectators point of view), while secondary personages and villains emerge from the right. Certain scenes have developed a particular combination of music, incidental noises, the sequence of entrances of the characters, and so forth. In particular, there are 18 typical scenes for which fixed and variable characteristics are defined. These include:
Council - battle - liberation of a prisoner - removal of a spell or curse - departure for a mission - soliloquy
In particular, the Battle scenes are extraordinary in their symbolism. They consists of a succession of one-to-one duels, starting with the least important figures (ordinary soldiers) and successively the most important (the paladins). Only the Christian heroes can face and kill the Saracens: the puppets of the latter are specially prepared so that they lose their head or even split into two.The obligatory movements preceding a battle include the lowering of the visor, unsheathing the sword, and taking up the on guard position. There may also be vocal preparations, such as challenges, declarations and so forth.The fight itself is based on rhythmic, symmetrical movements, accompanied by the furious pounding of the puppeteers heels, and the music produced by a street organ. The combination of these elements transforms a rite of death into a sort of dance: death becomes, in this form of theatre, a fundamental part in the process of life. In this sense, LOpera dei Pupi can assist us in understanding the complex attitude to life that is typical of the Sicilian people.
Teatro Drammatico dei Pupi di Onofrio Sanicola
Milano 20129 -Via Plinio 60 Tf.0229524449-6694056 Fax 0220408392
E-mail: sanicolapupi@tiscalinet.it www.operadeipupi.moonfruit.com
Monreale-Pa - 90046 - Via B. Dacquisto 33 - Tf 091 6409441-0916400126
Navigation
