Prospects for Italian Figure Theatre: towards the creation of a National School
Article published on Paneacquaculture.net
FRANCESCA DI FAZIO | Can we believe it? This question, which is better understood as a provocative statement of hope, is the manifesto of an important initiative launched by four theatres in the field of Figure Theatre. The latest news, published on the website of the Festival "Arrivano Dal Mare!", concerns the possible future creation of a National School of Figure Theatre: S.T.A.F.F. - School of Theatre on the Arts of Forms and Figures. The project involves four theatres that, not only in their history but also in the present, are deeply linked to the practices of Figure Theatre and actively committed to their care on the Italian scene, both in terms of an important work of promotion among the public and for the precious space they give to contemporary artistic research. These are three Production Centres Puppet Theatre of Milan Game and Life Theatre of Piacenza and Theatre of Crumbs of Parma, and a Company of Tradition, the Dragon Theatre of Ravenna.
The school would be an important and decisive step towards the affirmation and development - also in Italy - of this unique theatrical art, which has often been denied serious consideration in the face of a tradition that has not only a long but also an extremely rich and varied history in Italy. This development has already been taking place for some time in other European countries, including France, which can boast a theatre entirely dedicated to figures, the Théâtre Mouffetard in Paris, and the very important Institut International de la Marionnette (IIM) - which is both a theatre academy (École Nationale Supérieure des Arts de la Marionnette - ESNAM) and a study centre with a well-stocked archive (Centre de Documentation) - located in Charleville-Mézières and promoter, since 1972, of the historic Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes.
The news of the S.T.A.F.F.. project seems to come at a time when it is finally ripe, after several stages that over time have marked an increasingly lively attention dedicated to Figure Theatre (also called, among the different terms on which critics and operators do not seem to find a definitive agreement, Teatro Ragazzi): the recent inauguration, in October 2017, of the new Teatro del Buratto in Milan, a new centre for theatrical and cultural promotion for children; the continuation of the activities of the Atelier delle Figure - School for puppeteers and storytellers in Faenza; the valuable programming curated by the Teatro del Drago for the oldest Italian festival of Figure Theatre (Arrivano dal Mare!); the unique and historic shadow theatre company from Piacenza, Teatro Gioco Vita; and the launch, by the Teatro delle Briciole of Parma, of the Festival Impertinente - Festival di Teatro di Figura, now in its fifth edition.
The last edition of this festival - which this year saw its programming split into two different parts of the season, with the first part at the beginning of December and the second at the end of March - hosted the artistic residence of Mimmo Cuticchio, direct heir and careful interpreter of the Palermo tradition of the puppet opera, as well as one of the most authoritative voices of contemporary Italian theatre. This important initiative, made possible by the concerted efforts of the Culture Department of the City of Parma, the Teatro delle Briciole and the Castello dei Burattini - Museo Giordano Ferrari, is part of the far-sighted project of Culture Councillor Michele Guerra: The Artist Is Present involves an artist invited to work in a public space in Parma every year. Cuticchio's residency gave rise to a week full of cultural events of various kinds, from a Lectio magistralis by the puppeteer to the screening of the documentary Prove per una tragedia siciliana by John Turturro and Roman Paska, from the workshop open to the public in which the Cuticchio family created a puppet to the staging of the ancient practice of the Cunto.
Pending the actual birth of the S.T.A.F., the four realities involved have decided to launch in 2018 a series of coordinated workshops as a premise to the foundation of the actual School, listed in the image below.
Who knows, maybe in Italy too we might be moving towards the creation of a centrifugal nucleus, able to promote a reasoned dissemination of theatrical practices of the figures.
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