Pulcinella beyond tradition and innovation
Contemporary writings for old puppets
Anna LEONE (May 2022 - November 2022)
Introduction
The most renowned contemporary guaratellari do not simply perform what they call “the traditional repertoire” (il repertorio tradizionale), which is composed of ten or so sequences that were most probably already played during the 17th century and represent “classical” scenes of European hand puppets, shown in other theatres. They also created new shows, staging new stories (inspired by topical themes and theatrical, cinematographic, literary or philosophical works), using other manipulation techniques (string-puppets, shadows, objects, etc.) or collaborating with other artists (musicians, dancers, actors, drawing artists, stage directors, authors). How can we classify these new productions born from the encounter between a “traditional” puppet theatre and aesthetic or technical innovations?
As part of the research project PuppetPlays, I suggest studying three new creations from three contemporary guarattellari. Recounting the history of the production of these shows, from their conception to their diffusion and reception, I will analyse how and to what extent these new writings are influenced by traditional elements of the guarattelle theatre. To do so, we will look into several aspects of these works. What role do improvisation and the audience, fundamental for the success of a “traditional” show, play in their creation? Does Pulcinella, who is present in every new production, fix the show in the same traditional patterns, or does he allow for the creation of new theatrical paths? Do shows keep the traditional rhythm of the guarattelle? Is this audience the same as that of the traditional guarattelle? In parallel, an assessment of ancient documents on the guarattelle theatre will allow us to show how the link between “tradition” and creation was articulated by guarattellari of other times. This study will contribute to the common reflection of PuppetPlays on the “characteristics of a theatrical writing for puppets” and, most notably, on the ways in which the identity of a puppeteer is built, as well as on the influence that the conditions of production and diffusion have on the different roles played by a mask like Pulcinella.
Furthermore, I will contribute to the constitution of the data base on European puppet theatres by conducting research on the repertoire for puppets from Naples and Campania. First, I will collect documents from contemporary guarattellari’s archives (notably Bruno Leone, Gaspare Nasuto and Irene Vecchia, as well as Gianluca Di Matteo and Salvatore Gatto) and data and texts from guarattellari who were active during the 20th century (Giovanni Pino, Nunzi Zampella and the Ferraiolo). I will also collect data on the Neapolitan opera dei pupi by carrying out research on the Verbale family’s texts, and on the statements and documents collected by Campanian puppeteers (especially by Bruno Leone and Aldo De Martino). The collected documents on the guarattelle will allow us to broaden our knowledge of puppeteers’ repertoires from the past century, whilst adding to my analysis.
The new shows of guarattellari, tradition or innovation?
Given that the beginning of the history of puppets is tightly linked to folklore studies, puppets have often been considered as a minor art, ‘popular’ and ‘traditional’. Considering the innovations that this art form went through in the 20th century, and especially following the creation of several institutions dedicated to puppet theatre, for example the Institut international de la marionette and the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts de la Marionette, the publications of these “contemporary” forms of puppet theatres are now prominent in France (1). These innovations are natural, considering that puppeteers have always lived in a time contemporary to them, and, as Didier Plassard stated, “the transformations undergone by human societies compel artistic expressions to periodically redefine their outlines, their techniques and their functions, in a dialectical tension between past and future (2) ». But some productions, by introducing new material and new relations between puppets and puppeteers, have questioned the relevance of the word “puppet (3)”.
Most of the research on contemporary puppets were focused on those new creations, when the innovation that the so-called “traditional” puppets underwent was not as analysed. This is why the revaluation of puppets sometimes broadened the gap between the theatres that were called “creation theatre” or “contemporary theatre” and the more “traditional” ones.
The guarattelle, some of the oldest European puppet theatres, are considered a “traditional theatre”, and the “creations” of contemporary guarattellari have not been much studied (4).
Therefore, some puppeteers like Gaspare Nasuto find it regrettable that specialists are more interested in the past than in the present. Those puppeteers’ new productions can actually shed light on the distinction between “traditional” and “contemporary” puppets. On one hand, some elements in these shows have belonged to the European hand-puppet theatre for several centuries: hidden manipulation from the lower part of the puppet booth, Pulcinella’s voice,his regular personality and his wood stick and the wood with its rhythm. On the other hand some elements are typical of the so-called “contemporary” puppets: full-view manipulation and dialogues between puppet and puppeteer, the use of new manipulation techniques and new materials or other types of theatres and arts.
How does tradition influence these new productions? Is it a source of inspiration, or does it limit the puppeteers? Does Pulcinella paralyze the shows in prebuilt patterns? Is the writing limited to the redacting of the text, or does it include the construction of the puppets, of the theatre, and of the objects that are used? To what extent do improvisation and the audience, that have an active role in the “traditional” shows, play a part in these contemporary writings? Are the rhythmic form and typical rhythmic sequences of the guarattelle a mark of these new shows? To answer these questions, I suggest comparing three creations from three Neapolitans puppeteers belonging to three different generations: Bruno Leone, Gaspare Nasuto and Irene Vecchia.
Leone, Nasuto and Vecchia: bringing innovation to tradition, and vice versa
Bruno Leone, Gaspare Nasuto and Irene Vecchia belong to three different generations of puppeteers. A comparative analysis of their repertoire and, more specifically, of three plays will allow us to reflect on the ways in which the traditional repertoire influences the new style of writing, and, at the same time, on the ways in which these new productions influence the representations of the “traditional” performance. I suggest hereinafter three shows, the study of which could contribute to my research. This suggestion is based on my own experience, and the knowledge that I acquired during my doctoral research, but the analysis of other shows could prove more relevant for this research. The definitive choice of plays will also depend on the documents kept by the puppeteers (different versions of the text, recordings, objects and pictures of the stage, etc.). I could then consider other plays, after interviewing the puppeteers.
Bruno Leone, born in 1949, started his training in 1979 with Nunzio Zampella (1920 – 1985) by working with him in the same conditions as the guarattellari of the post Second World War period, that is to say playing the traditional repertoire in the streets of Naples, and being paid in a hat (5). Leone is the contemporary guarattellaro with the vastest repertoire (composed of 44 texts put in the Società Italiana degli Autori ed Editori – SIAE – and other texts, that are not registered there). At the same time, his new creations remain, to some extent, very close the “traditional” repertoire, getting mixed up with it. One of his first show – the birth of the Pulcinellini – is now regularly played by the guarattellaro at the end of a performance of the traditional repertoire, and is often played by other puppeteers who believe that it is a traditional play. More recently, he has collected the account of a nonagenarian Neapolitan woman, and he has then reproduced a new play from the traditional repertoire, in which Pulcinella fights a fly. In addition to these short shows that expend the traditional repertoire, he has created more complex productions for which he collaborated with puppeteers, actors, musicians, drawing artists, stage directors or dancers. The closeness that even the more elaborated plays keep with the traditional repertoire can be explained by the interest that Leone has in a more “popular” form of theatre, rather than in a theatre “of creation”. The study of one of his show could prove to be particularly interesting to try and understand how typical elements of innovation, like full-view manipulation, which is very much used by Leone, and the use of other manipulation techniques as well as the mention of topical issues, can be inserted in the structure of the traditional guarattelle show (characterised by improvisation and by a particular rhythmic form, born from the culmination of independent scenes and rhythmic sequences). In this regard, it could be particularly interesting to study a show from 2021: Pulcinella femminiello e Teresina masculella. This show was the result of an improvisation, and mixes traditional guarattelle scenes with new themes, both actual and traditional (gender identities and the Neapolitans femminielli (6)), techniques (object theatre) and forms of writing (a poem from Federico Garcia Lorca) that are unfamiliar to the guarattelle.
Gaspare Nasuto (born in 1972) started his career as a puppeteer in 1989, and, a year later, he discovered the guarattellethanks to a performance from Maria Imperatrice. He later learnt this art by collaborating for a long period of time with Bruno Leone. Furthermore, he self-taught in the art of woodcarving. Contrary to Leone, he is animated by a constant search for perfection, which led him to move away from the “improvised style” of his master, and to take special care of his puppets, his puppet booth and his rhythmic games. He thus elaborated a particular way of manipulating his puppets, allowing for a wider range of micro-movements. In parallel, he worked a lot on the rhythmic sequences, for example playing with extreme slowdowns and sudden accelerations. Like his master, he has a repertoire of new shows that contributed to the innovation of his way of representing the traditional repertoire. The writing of his plays does not only relate to the writing of the text, but also to the construction of the puppets: the movements and the sounds are “written” onto the clothes and types of wood used. That is why it would be particularly interesting to study the creation of the play Se77e that was inspired by Bergman’s film The Seventh Seal and for which Nasuto designed a new puppet representing death, that differentiates itself from that of the guarattelle through its colours and significance as well as its movements. This show is all the more interesting in that it marked a turning point in Nasuto’s career, who has since been using this new puppet of death in his performances of the “traditional repertoire”.
Irene Vecchia (born in 1981) was trained to the guarattelle between 2001 and 2004, in the school run by Bruno Leone and in which Salvatore Gatto, Maria Imperatrice and Gaspare Nasuto have also taught. Her new repertoire is composed of very few plays, including two new creations: La Luna e Pulcinella (The moon and Pulcinella) and Un caso cromosomico(A case of chromosomes). The former is a new show for guarattelle that tackles the themes of violence against women and gender identity. Drawing on suggestions from Bruno Leone as well as from a contemporary playwright like Gyula Molnàr, this show is an example of new creation for guarattelle that uses the traditional manipulation techniques and puppet booth. Contrary to that, Un caso cromosomico is a show with actors (Irene Vecchia) and objects (Neapolitan nativity figures) in which the guarattelle and Pulcinella only make an appearance. This show, written by Irene Vecchia and Gyula Molnàr, won the first prize in Progetto Cantiere, a programme supporting the creations of young puppeteers, organised as part of the puppet festival Incanti – Rassegna Internazionale di Teatre di Figura. The analysis of this production could be very relevant for my research on the contemporary writings of guarattellari. The aim will be to study the extent to which this play is completely independent from the guarattelle. How did her profession as a guarattellarainfluence Irene Vecchia in this creation? What is the role played by Pulcinella and the guarattelle? If the analysis of the shows of Leone and Nasuto allowed a reflexion on the ways in which elements from the contemporary theatre are inserted in the guarattelle theatre, the study of Vecchia’s production would add to the question of how tradition can be introduced into a contemporary show.
In each case, I will observe the role of the audience (who have those three plays been written and performed for? Did the audience partake in their writing through improvised interactions?), the role of rhythm (do those plays keep the same rhythmic forms and rhythmic sequences as those of traditional shows?) and of the link between dramaturgical creation and the manufacture of objects and puppets.
Research programme and contributions to the PuppetPlays project
As part of the research programme PuppetPlays, I offer to analyse shows (seen live or in recordings) and to conduct interviews with the puppeteers, as well as to search into their archives (in order to collect texts, pictures and recordings). A first set of interviews will deal with the whole of the three puppeteers’ production, so as to grasp the distinctive features of their own repertoire. The first interviews will also allow for a confirmation of the choice of the show to analyse. After that, I will conduct interviews in order to trace back the history of the show: the conception and the choice of its subject the writing of the text, the construction or “readaptation” of the puppets and the theatre, the staging, the diffusion and the reception. If it is possible, I will also follow ongoing productions. A comparative analysis of the text and the recordings will allow for an observation of the role of improvisation and interaction with the audience in these creations. Two fieldworks in Naples will need to be organised in order to meet the puppeteers and conduct the search into their archives.
During the fieldworks, I will also conduct research for the database created as part of the PuppetPlays project. I will collect documents on the creations of contemporary guarattellari (texts, audio-visual recordings and pictures) as well as documents kept by Bruno Leone on the guarattellari of the post Second World War period, Giovanni Pino and Nunzio Zampella. I would also like to conduct research in the archives of the Ferraiolo family in Salerno. Texts from Pasquale Ferraiolo, a puppeteer who was active in Napoli between the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, are preserved by his successors, who, today still, continue to stage farces with Pulcinella. Three plot outlines of the family were published in 1993, in a volume edited by Aldo De Martino (7) and kept in the library of the Museo Internazionale delle Marionette Antonio Pasqualino as well as in the Institut International de la Marionnette in Charleville Mézières.
Pasquale Ferraiolo, who started his career in Naples, wrote several original plays as well as rewritings of traditional theatre plays, especially from Antonio Petito, Giacomo Marulli, Carlo Guarino and Eduardo Scarpetta. Ferraiolo’s successors, who get more and more distant from the Neapolitans guarattelle (they do not use swazzles and do not stage the “traditional” repertoire), continue to stage those plays. It would be interesting to collect some of those texts as well as recordings (indeed, Ferraiolo’s plays maintain a very sustained rhythm, typical of the guarattelle theatre).
This research on the documents on figure theatre in Campania could also extend to the repertoire of the Neapolitan opera dei pupi. In this regard, I plan to conduct research in the archives of Campanian puppeteers that have collected conversations and plot outlines (especially Bruno Leone and Aldo De Martino). I would also like to conduct research in the archives of Salvatore Verbale, grandchild of the puppeteer Salvatore Verbale, author of several texts for the Neapolitan pupi that are registered in the SIAE. These plot outlines simultaneously include the Cycle des paladins de France, shows on the stories from the camorra, and plays for string puppets. These plot outlines remain largely unknown, considering that there are not a lot of publications on the Neapolitan opera dei pupi (8). It will be all the more interesting to collect and digitise them.
Bibliographie:
- Baldi Alberto, 2012a, Corazze, durlindane, schioppi, coltelli e mazze. Il teatro di animazione meridionale, le sue forme ed i sostrati socio-culturali in cui si espresse tra onore ed amore, astuzia ed intrigo, violenza e vendetta, Napoli, Artre Tipografica Editrice, 188 p.
- Baldi Alberto, 2012b, L’opulenta scena. Granitiche e trasformistiche, sincretiche ed eretiche vistosità del teatro dei pupi partenopeo, Napoli, Arte Tipografica Editrice, 140 p.
- Beauchamp Hélène (dir.), « La marionnette aujourd’hui », Europe, n° 1106-1107-1108, juin / juil. / août 2021.
- Catalano Federica, 2013, L’Opera dei Pupi in Campania, Napoli, Stamperia del Valentino, 155 p.
- De Martino Aldo, 1993, I Ferraiolo - Burattinai, coll. « I testi, il repertorio. Quaderni sul teatro d’animazione in Campania », n°2, 32 p.
- De Simone Roberto, 2003, Le guarattelle. Fra Pulcinella, Teresina e la morte, Sorrento/Napoli, Franco Di Mauro Editore, 206 p.
- Leone Anna, 2022, Pupi et guarattelle, les marionnettes de Naples et de Palerme. Une korémachie italienne, Paris, Classiques Garnier (coll. « Collection Etudes sur le théâtre et les arts de la scène »), 544 p.
- Leone Anna, 2013, « Rire, liberté et pauvreté au théâtre des marionnettes à gaine napolitaines », Humoresques, numéro thématique, Le rire du pauvre, 2013, vol. 40, p. 127‑137.
- Leone Bruno, 1986, La guarattella. Burattini e burattinai a Napoli, Bologna, CLUEB, 100 p.
- Pasqualino Antonio, L’ opera dei pupi a Roma a Napoli e in Puglia, Palermo, Museo internazionale delle marionette Antonio Pasqualino, 247 p.
- Plassard Didier et Grazioli Cristina, 2018, « La marionnette, ou la mimésis complexe - La complexité des figures dans le théâtre en tant que mimésis », Urdimento - Revista de Estudos em Artes Cênicas, 2018, vol. 2, no 32, p. 56‑72.
- Plassard Didier et Guidicelli Carole (eds.), 2015, La marionnette sur toutes les scènes, Artpress 2, n°38 - Août/Septembre/Octobre 2015, s.l.
- Scafoglio Domenico, 1992, « Burattino o marionetta » dans D. Scafoglio et Luigi M. Lombardi Satriani, Pulcinella. Il mito e la storia, Milano, Leonardo Editore, p. 907‑928.
- Sermon Julie, 2017, « La marionnette, un art contemporain ? », Nectart, 13 juin 2017, vol. 5, no 2, p. 108‑116.
- Vuoso Ugo, 2003, « Ladri di pivette. Burattinai e burattini nella tradizione popolare campana » dans R. De Simone, Le guarattelle, op. cit., p. 115‑130.
(1) See for instance Plassard and Guidicelli (dir.) 2015 ; Sermon 2017 ; Beauchamp (dir.), 2021
(2) Plassard and Grazioli 2018, p.58
(3) Plassard 2009
(4) Some specialists of popular traditions have written about the guarattelle (Scafoglio 1992 ; De Simone 2003 ; Vuoso 2003 ; Baldi 2012). Their studies mention the contemporary guarattellari, often without analysing their new creations. However, as part of my doctoral studies, I analysed several aspects of the contemporary shows for guarattelle by comparing them with the old ones. For instance, I studied the new comical effects (Anna Leone 2013) and the puppets, the voices and the rhythms of some new productions (Anna Leone 2022).
(5) He told the story of his training in Leone 1986.
(6) The Neapolitans femminielli are men that feel like women, or feel effeminate.
(7) De Martino 1993. The published plays are: Pulcinella e Sandokan by Adriano, Vittorio and Pasquale Ferraiolo (1978) ; ‘Na purga’ e sale inglese (A purge of English salt) from Francesco and Salvatore Ferraiolo (v. 1940) ; ‘Na nuttata’ e guai ovvero Temporale a Mezzanotte (A night of troubles or Midnight Tempest) by Pasquale Ferraiolo (v. 1900).
(8) On the opera dei pupi from Naples, one work by Antonio Pasqualino must be quoted in particular, since it features an interview with Ciro Verbale, that was taken from a Neapolitan daily newspaper (Pasqualino, p.122-125) and plot outlines from the Neapolitan puppeteer Ciro Perna (episode 95 of the story of the Camorra member Tore e’ Criscienzo and episode 8 of the story of the paladins de France). More recently, other studies were published (Catalano 2013 and Baldi 2012), they do not include any transcriptions of plot outlines.
Last updated : 26/11/2024