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Scritto da webworks
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sabato 28 aprile 2007 |
  Wooden puppets: of 18th century, of 19th century
those made by Benedetto Ravasio,
all set in a toy-theatre.
THE
BERGAMASK PUPPET THEATRE. One of the most characteristic traditions
of the Bergamask country is the Puppet Theatre. Some puppeteers
still exist in Bergamo even if they're reduced to few. They
keep a really ancient form of performance going on with their
puppet theatre. The first news in Bergamo dates back to the
beginning of the eighteenth century, with the unusual presence
of a woman puppeteer.
The strong personality of the character and the cleverness
of the puppeteers made him popular. The presence of "Gioppino"
is still rooted in this performance and makes up the main
component.
The puppet theatre was born in the street and because of a
constant contact with people, it's one of the most authentic
expressions of the Bergamask soul. The nineteenth century
was the golden age of the Bergamask puppeteers who ventured
as far as the other Lombard provinces and then followed the
emigrants to Switzerland and France.
ARLECCHINO'S HOUSE
According to a credible tradition the origins of Arlecchino
are Bergamask. The rude man of the mountains with a harsh
dialect is assumed to have descended from the "Brembana Valley"
to Venice. From this mountaineer maybe came the immortal mask
of this singular character.
The actor-manager Alberto Ganassa is thought to have lived
in this building once decorated with remarkable "frescos",
now kept somewhere else. He took the mask of Arlecchino everywhere
in Italy and in Europe, making it famous.
During the following century it is reported the constant presence
of puppeteers in the "Piazza Vecchia", the heart of the ancient
Bergamo. Here, next to the masks of the "Commedia dell'Arte",
the character "Gioppino" made himself known. He was the expression
of the Bergamask people: rough but witty, immediately recognizable
for three unmistakable goitres.
The masks of Arlecchino, Brighella and Tartaglia play an important
part unlike the puppet-like traditions of other Lombard and
Northern areas of Italy.
Their success went on during the first decades of the twentieth
century and met a strong competition from the other diverse
amusements. But nowadays in Bergamo the puppets theatre goes
on, thanks to the cleverness of the last puppeteers.
The tradition presumes that a fifteenth century building is
Arlecchino's house; it is situated in "Brembana Valley", in
the ancient "contrada" of Oneta, near S. Giovanni Bianco.
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THE PUPPET
MUSEUM
(c/o The Joiner's Museum)
Via Papa Giovanni, 59
24030 Almenno S. Bartolomeo (Bergamo)
- Italy ph.# ++39 35 549198 |
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