SHOWS FOR THE BIG STAGE
From the seeds of Opera dei Pupi (puppets theater) and the Cunto (storytelling) the company has evolved to develop a new repertoire that expands its boundaries and transcends the dimensions of its original domain. In these shows—thanks to the dramaturgy and direction of Mimmo Cuticchio—the puppets engage in dialogue with the actors, moving in and out of their small theater, existing simultaneously on two planes: the narrative and the exploratory. The narrative thread weaves through complex labyrinths of echoes, variations, and free associations, inviting the audience into autonomous fantasies. Here, the second plane never overshadows the first; rather, while embodying novelty, it remains rooted in the strength of tradition from which it emerges. Undoubtedly, this is a new genre of theater that integrates elements from puppetry, the “cunto,” and experiences of independent theater driven by a need for experimentation. These diverse elements coalesce into a new organism—not a fleeting fusion of styles but something substantial, built on the dialectic between tradition and innovation.
from Homer’s Iliad
stage adaptation and direction by Mimmo Cuticchio
with Mimmo Cuticchio, Giacomo Cuticchio, Tania Giordano, Giuseppe Graffeo
music by Giacomo Cuticchio
Alessandro Lo Giudice (flute), Paolo Pellegrino (cello), Nicola Mogavero (baritone saxophone), Giulia Lo Giudice (percussion), Roberta Casella (harp)
sets and costumes by Tania Giordano
lighting by Marcello D’Agostino
produced by Figli d’Arte Cuticchio
Achilles’ Wrath is a puppet-theatre staging conceived not for the small puppet booth, but for the large stage. The action unfolds across three scenic levels: the men/puppets, the priests/puppeteers, and the gods/actors.
Giacomo Cuticchio wrote a musical suite especially for the production, conceived, assembled, and directed by his father, Mimmo. Epic storytelling merges with the contemporary in a staging that brings to life new puppets created in the likeness of Greeks and Trojans, in keeping with the traditional canons that the Family of Artists has handed down from generation to generation. Likewise, ancient and modern instruments are blended in the soundtrack which, in a dialectical progression, accompanies the events portrayed, following their rhythms with the improvisational pulse typical of puppet theatre.
Paris, son of Priam, king of Troy, abducts Helen, wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. The Greeks gather and decide to declare war on the Trojans. Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and Menelaus’ brother, is elected commander-in-chief. Among the warriors are the valiant Odysseus, Ajax the Lesser, Ajax the Greater, Antilochus, Diomedes, Menelaus, Nestor, Patroclus, Achilles, and the seer Calchas. The Greek ships make landfall on the shores of Troy, all along the coast. King Priam summons his many sons and his allies, and entrusts command of the city’s defence to his firstborn, Hector.
The siege of Troy lasts nine years. The Greeks, numerous as they are, cannot draw near the city’s high walls. In the tenth year, Chryses, a priest of Apollo, comes before Agamemnon to ransom his daughter Chryseis, who had been assigned to the king of Mycenae during the division of the spoils. But Agamemnon refuses and drives him away brutally. The priest Chryses then prays to the god Apollo to punish the Greeks’ arrogance, and so Apollo unleashes the arrows of plague upon the Achaean camp: for nine days, herds and men die. On the tenth day, Achilles calls for the council to be convened.
by William Shakespeare
dramaturgy and direction by Giacomo Cuticchio
with Giacomo Cuticchio, Salvino Calatabiano, Tania Giordano, Elisa Puleo
lighting by Marcello D’Agostino
music by Giacomo Cuticchio, performed by the Giacomo Cuticchio Ensemble
organization by Elisa Puleo
In the kingdom of Britain, the marriage between an honest and valiant gentleman named Posthumus and the king’s daughter, Imogen, is shaken by a sad turn of events. The king, urged on by his second wife, banishes the man from the realm and forces him into immediate exile.
Even so, Imogen remains faithful to him and refuses, in every way, the persistent courtship of Cloten, the wicked son of the queen. Intrigues, duels, and battles follow, to reaffirm the truth and restore justice.
The production plants new roots in the popular tradition of puppet theatre and brings tradition and innovation into dialogue, leaving to Giacomo Cuticchio’s creativity the task of making this new adventure his own — an undertaking difficult in itself, and even more so when one considers how novel the subject is compared to the Sicilian puppet tradition, which embodies the stories of Orlando and Charlemagne and chivalric epic.
Giacomo carried out a work of adaptation of Cymbeline, highlighting the essential plot, the play of passions, and the character of the various figures, bringing puppet theatre into harmony with the spirit of Shakespeare’s genius, so as to offer the audience the vivid colours of this work which, like all the English dramatist’s creations, draws inspiration from life, interprets it, and represents it. Particular attention is given to the music — original pieces composed by Giacomo himself and performed live by a string quartet.
by Mimmo Cuticchio
with Mimmo Cuticchio and Giacomo Cuticchio, Giuseppe Graffeo, Tania Giordano
music by the Giacomo Cuticchio Ensemble: Marco Badami (violin), Nicola Mogavero (saxophone), Paolo Pellegrino (cello), Fabio Piro (trombone)
The new production, titled Aeneas’ Exodus, is aimed above all at younger audiences, as it centres on Virgil’s Aeneid, a masterpiece of Latin epic which, despite being more than two thousand years old, is rich in references to the present day: from humanity’s relationship with the supernatural to the role of love in everyday life, from the value of friendship to the phenomenon of migration and the importance of the principle of community. Its poetry, which renders every shade of the human soul, is a model of universal beauty, a prototype for all later literary forms.
Classical mythology is a web in which multiple stories are interwoven, each tied to the others. Over the years, we have repeatedly cast our nets into the sea of myth: after the Odyssey, which provided inspiration and material for The Monster’s Cry and The Return of Ulysses to Ithaca, and after the Iliad, which we reworked in The Redemption of Priam and Achilles’ Wrath, we could not avoid confronting Virgil’s Aeneid — the wanderings of its protagonist and his companions who, having escaped the destruction of Troy, reach Latium where, as refugees, they lay the foundations for what will become Rome’s universal power.
The reception of the myth of Aeneas in European culture, from the Middle Ages to today, is boundless across every field: from literature to the visual arts, from theatre to music, to cinema. Virgil’s version is only one more variant of an enormously complex myth, which originates more than a thousand years before the Aeneid and which, over the centuries, has continued to be enriched and altered — a layering of versions, each time shaped to renewed political and identity strategies, and to the interests of cities and peoples eager to claim a prestigious founder.
The myth of Aeneas, then, is not a story of the past. On the contrary, the Virgilian refugee has returned in recent years as an emblem of other, no less dramatic exiles. His figure — an exile, a defeated man without a homeland — lends itself to expressing the condition of today’s migrant, and it is on these aspects that our production focuses its attention. In the Aeneid, the theme of cultural mixing and métissage is significant: it lies at the very origin of Rome’s foundation and accompanies the city’s development and history in every age. The building of the Roman Empire in fact occurred through a continual layering of mixtures and crossings of cultures. Yet the most interesting aspect, the one that guides us in creating this production, is that the civil and political development of the whole world follows this model. Human geography appears as an unceasing exodus — a shared space continually traversed by peoples and ethnic groups. The story of Aeneas, his search for a new homeland, however, is also a story of violence and oppression, a story of bloody conquests.
The aim of our production is to bring out, more than the tale of war — with its atrocities and its destructive vehemence — the courage, intrepidity, and spirit of sacrifice placed in the service of a noble ideal. Behind the heroic framework, however, the Aeneid is a profoundly sorrowful poem: its most beautiful and memorable pages sing of misfortune and pain in a tone of pity and fraternal compassion.
For the staging of Aeneas’ Exodus, we have built new puppets and painted new backdrops. The music will not be that of the cylinder piano that accompanies traditional performances, but entirely original and performed live. Ancient and modern instruments will be used simultaneously to create a soundtrack that will accompany the progression of the events portrayed, following the improvisational rhythms typical of puppet theatre.
From Catai to Paris – Arrival of Angelica at the court of King Charles
Dramaturgy and direction Mimmo Cuticchio
Cuntista Mimmo Cuticchio
Opranti Giacomo Cuticchio, Giuseppe Airò, Tania Giordano
Lights Marcello D’Agostino
Music Giacomo Cuticchio
performed by Oneiroi Quartet
Marco Badami, first violin
Filippo Di Maggio, second violin
Massimo Cantone, viola
Paolo Pellegrino, cello
In Charlemagne’s court in Paris, amidst great celebration for the birth of a male heir, the princess of Catai, Angelica, daughter of the Great Baldassar of China, emerges in all her beauty. She desires to marry one of the Paladins, the one who can defeat her brother Argalia in a duel.
Trickery and magic ensue, as expected in a fairy tale, stirring up storms of love and rivalry in the noble hearts of the Paladins, who all set out in pursuit of the beautiful and elusive maiden. Meanwhile, Paris is besieged by the Saracens, and only a few knights remain to defend it from the enemy’s onslaught.
A great battle unfolds: severed heads, slashed bodies, but the city is saved. Among the corpses, only one survivor, Medoro, is rescued by Angelica, who heals him with her magic potions, saves him, falls in love with him, and marries him. When Paladin Orlando discovers him, he goes mad; it will be up to Astolfo to restore his sanity on the moon.
This is a free interpretation of Ariosto’s “Orlando Furioso,” with influences from Matteo Maria Boiardo’s “Orlando Innamorato,” narrated by the voice of Mimmo Cuticchio and acted out by puppets.
It’s a popular rendition of the most famous of chivalric cycles, encompassing all its essential elements: magic, twists and turns, genuine or ostentatious heroism, and love, with an interpretation made all the more captivating by the inclusion of visual maneuvers. Operating without the typical small proscenium, the puppets still achieve incomparable effects, thanks to Mimmo Cuticchio’s remarkable ability to multiply voices and fill the stage with wonder.