Itinerary of the Opera dei Pupi

Opera dei Pupi is the traditional marionette theatre of Southern Italy and Sicily. Opera dei Pupi dates back to the third decade of the 19th century and has received particular success with the popular classes, becoming one of the most significant expressions of historical memory and of the cultural identity of Sicily. It was proclaimed by UNESCO to be a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity in 2001.

Understand
Each stage of Opera dei Pupi (Opra î Pupi in Palermo, Opira î Pupi in Catania) corresponds to a family of puppeteers or a company that you can get to know, listen to, and see at work while performing a show or building a pupo: all while telling you about the family history that brings us into the world of the Opera dei Pupi, a living expression of the territory.

Each stage and family correspond to different places: theatres or artisan workshops where often the puppeteers exhibit the family crafts. However there are also museums and collections, live places to discover what the Opera dei Pupi was, where to discover a “mestiere” or complete set (collections) or know the entire panorama of the Opera dei Pupi (Museums) also in relation to UNESCO, where to confront the efforts made and challenges to be faced to safeguard it, where the Opera dei Pupi can be discussed and compared to other works in artistic, theatrical and musical fields.

Places distributed throughout the regional territory, in cities, highly touristic towns and neighbourhoods, countrysides and neighbourhoods outside the mainstream that offer an unpublished image of Sicily or allows us to look at it under a different lens.

An itinerary that invites you to discover the territory through listening to its voices, vision and experience of the show, respecting its rhythms and times, and through the exploration of its geography designed in a sustainable way.

The Opera dei Pupi
The puppeteers, which make up the patrimonial community of the Opera dei Pupi, are depositary of a vast and complex heritage that is still transmitted today by a master to a student, both within the family and outside. The transmission of this heritage takes place within the companies and artisan laboratories primarily through listening and observation of the teacher by the young apprentice. The puppeteers - in Sicily also called "Opranti", "Teatrinari" - manage the theatre, organize the show, and animate the puppets.

They paint the scenes and the signs, and sometimes they build the Pupi.

Pupi, signs, scenes and scenic objects constitute the craft of the company, that is that set of objects necessary for the staging of the show. Often today the companies exhibit family crafts in their theatres or laboratories - which often include historical objects, made by their fathers and grandparents.

The Sicilian Opera House of Puppets has two different variants: the "Palermitana" school, in Western Sicily, and the "Catanese", in eastern Sicily. They differ in some aspects of mechanics and figurative and for certain subjects.

When to go
The experience according to the itinerary can be made at any time of the year. Museums and collections are open all year round while detailed information on the programming of the shows can be requested to the companies through the contacts provided. Many companies carry out shows and educational workshops by reservation for groups of visitors and/or schools. Some have more regular programming on an annual basis.

A good time is also when exhibitions and festivals take place. Among the exhibitions dedicated to the Opera dei Pupi, as well as Italian, foreign, traditional and contemporary theatre, we note:

The Morgana Festival (Palermo, Autumn): it is the oldest annual exhibition of the territory dedicated to the Opera dei Pupi and the “Theatre of Figure”(?). It takes place every year in autumn (usually in November) in the ancient historic district of Kalsa and is one of the events of great touristic interest of the Sicilian region. It is organised by the International Marionette Museum Antonio Pasqualino in Palermo in collaboration with numerous international institutes.

Over time, other festivals were added, including:

“Dream machine” (Palermo, summer): Born in 1984 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Giacomo Cuticchio, the festival initially focused on the Opera dei Pupi, soon expanded its gaze towards other performative practices: cunto and oral narrative, street theatre and theatre "without labels and distinctions of genres". It is organised by the cultural association "Cuticchio children of art" (Figli d’arte Cuticchio);

San Martino Puppet Fest (Syracuse, Autumn): a very recent festival, born in 2018, tending towards a younger audience, but not exclusively: "The theatre, and in this case the theatre of figure and of puppets, represents a driving force for the development of the conditions necessary for formative growth in children". It is organised by the company of the Vaccaro-Mauceri Pupari. and takes place in the period of San Martino, tying the two Christian festivities: the day of the dead and the festival of the Saint.

Who is it for?
The itinerary of the Opera dei pupi is aimed at every type of audience. Young and old can discover the Opera dei Pupi through direct exchange with companies, traditional theatrical performances and innovation for all ages, educational laboratories and visits to museums and collections.

By plane

 * Palermo-Punta Raisi Airport (Falcone e Borsellino Airport, IATA: PMO), +39 0917020273. The airport is connected to the city centre by the metropolitan train service.  National and international arrivals and departures, with frequent daily flights to and from Rome Fiumicino, Milan Linate and Malpensa.  The airport, about 35 km from Palermo, is served by the Prestia and Comandé bus lines (prestiaecomande.it), with the last stop at the Central Station and stops at various points in the city;  buses also to and from Trapani (segesta.it), Catania (saisautolinee.it).


 * Catania "Vincenzo Bellini" Airport (Vincenzo Bellini Airport, IATA: PMO), +39 095 723 9111. National and international arrivals and departures with daily flights to and from Milan Linate, Malpensa, Bergamo and Rome Fiumicino.  The airport, about 5 km from the centre of Catania, is connected to the city by the Alibus urban car line (amt.ct.it).  Bus services connect the airport with many municipalities, including in other provinces, as well (corporasicilianatrasporti.it, interbus.it, etnatrasporti.it);  bus lines for Messina and Palermo (saisautolinee.it).  Catania-Fontanarossa Airport


 * Comiso Airport "Pio La Torre" (Comiso Airport), . National and international arrivals and departures with daily flights to and from Milan Linate, Malpensa, Bergamo and Rome Fiumicino.  The airport, about 5 km from the centre of Catania, is connected to the city by the Alibus urban car line (amt.ct.it).  Bus services connect the airport with many municipalities, including in other provinces, as well (corporasicilianatrasporti.it, interbus.it, etnatrasporti.it);  bus lines for Messina and Palermo (saisautolinee.it).


 * Trapani-Birgi Airport "Vincenzo Florio" (Trapani-Birgi Airport «Vincenzo Florio»), . National and international arrivals and departures with daily flights to and from Milan Linate, Malpensa, Bergamo and Rome Fiumicino .  The airport, about 5 km from the centre of Catania, is connected to the city by the Alibus urban car line (amt.ct.it).  Bus services connect the airport with many municipalities, including in other provinces, as well (corporasicilianatrasporti.it, interbus.it, etnatrasporti.it);  bus lines for Messina and Palermo (saisautolinee.it).

By boat

 * For Palermo from Genoa, Civitavecchia, Naples with Grandi Navi Veloci (gnv.it), which also manage the routes from Civitavecchia and Naples to Tèrmini Imerese;


 * From Livorno to Palermo and from Salerno to Catania with Grimaldi Lines (grimaldi-lines.com);


 * From Naples and Cagliari with Tirrenia (tirrenia.it).

By train
To reach Sicily by train we recommend:


 * Intercity from Rome or Milan to Messina.


 * Or an Express train from Turin, Genoa, Milan, Venice, Bologna, Florence, or Naples to Villa San Giovanni where you can board for free for the Strait of Messina and continue with regional connections to the chosen Sicilian city.

By car
From Palermo:


 * The A29 connects Palermo with Trapani and Mazara del Vallo.


 * The A20 connects Palermo with Messina (section with toll)


 * The A19 connects Palermo (on the A20) with Catania serving Enna and part of the interior.

From Messina:


 * The A18 connects Messina with Catania ( with toll fee)

From Catania:


 * The A18 connects Catania with Syracuse


 * The state road SS 115 Sud Occidentale Sicula connects Trapani to Syracuse.

Palermo

 * The museum was founded in 1975 by the Association for the Conservation of Popular Traditions of Palermo. It is located in the former Hôtel de France with a collection of over 5,000 works from all over the world which makes it undoubtedly the largest and most complete collection existing today. As a part of the Museum's new production there is also the theatre with a program of daily opera dei pupi performances, and organization of the Morgana Festival in autumn and Teatro al Museo, annually. The opera dei pupi shows are staged every day, from Tuesday to Saturday at 17:00; to Monday at 11:00.















Carini




Alcamo




Messina






Catania




Acireale




Siracusa
In 1875 in a basement in via Mario Minniti, then vanedda Spata, Francesco Puzzo built his first puppet. It was he who created the Eldorado Theatre in via Maestranza, with the help of the puppeteer Giuseppe Crimi who painted the curtain for the new theatre. Mr. Puzzo subsequently created the Bellini Theatre which he moved to many locations in the city as well as in the province, operating until 1917, when his sons Ernesto, Giuseppe, Luciano and Salvatore followed in his footsteps. Ernesto Puzzo, in 1924 renominated as the Eden Theatre in Via Gemmellaro, which hosted the great Catania actor and puppeteer Giovanni Grasso, and subsequently, in 1928, the San Giorgio Theatre in Via Dante, today Via dei Santi Coronati, in Syracuse. Ernesto's activity lasted until 1947 while his brother Luciano worked in Noto until 1937 when he passed away. The puppets of Luciano, sold to the Syracusan entrepreneurs Andrea Bisicchia and Carlo Pulvirenti, who in the immediate post-war period managed a theatre then entrusted to Ernesto Puzzo, went to an unidentified puppeteer from Modica, while Ernesto's puppet material was taken over in 1957 by Ignazio Puglisi from Sortinese puppeteer. Francesco Puzzo, who was born in Syracuse in 1857, died in 1936. Ernesto Puzzo, born in 1891, died in 1965.


 * Famiglia Vaccaro Mauceri.jpg

Sortino




Worth knowing
In Monreale, there is the Ignazio Munna Collection. The birth of the Puppet Opera in Monreale is mainly due to the initiative of Ignazio Munna, born in Erice in 1879. He began his experience in the world of the Puppet Opera at the age of twelve in the theatre of his maternal uncle Francesco Giarratano;  later in the early 1900s he moved with his family to Monreale, setting up a theatre in the historic Carmine district, precisely in the Manin courtyard. He developed scripts such as The Destroyed of Agrigento, a story of love and revenge, when in 500 BC the Carthaginians dominated the Mediterranean. He worked as an oprante until 1939, the year of his death. Ignazio Munna recited with his hoarse and engaging voice and with passion he represented the fights. The little theatre was inherited by the sons Vincenzo Munna and Vito Munna who with their characteristic "dancing battle", still alive in the memory of the Monreales, performed shows in Italy and all over the world. The family business cannot be visited.



Furthermore, the work of Sicilian puppets nourishes the imagination, both in the theatrical, cinematographic and artisan fields. For example, in 2015 Girolamo Botta, of Palermitan origin, founded the art company G.Botta in Sulmona. With his mobile theatre, he staged puppets and popular paintings in central Italy, which he made with a smaller size than the traditional ones of the Palermo school. In fact, the puppets measure 70 cm, and the theatre is also on a smaller scale. Later he gave life to the "Italic puppets" that tell the deeds of the warriors of the Osco-Umbrian peoples during the Social War against the Roman Republic.