Switzerland – Teatrino dell’Es at the International Festival of Puppets of Lugano
The 39th edition of the International Festival of Puppets directed by Michel Poletti – historic event that celebrates this ancient and always fascinating stage art – takes place in Lugano at the Teatro Foce from October 16 to November 7.
Vittorio Zanella and Rita Pasqualin of Teatrino dell’Es – company based in Bologna which for over 40 years has given life to puppets, marionettes, and shadows – have been invited to participate and they will take precious companions with them: more than 40 ancient puppets from their collection, that will be on display in the exhibition Prestigious Puppets, set in the Museum of Puppets in Lugano from October 30 to November 14.
The Zanella-Pasqualini collection, housed in the Puppet Museum of Budrio, near Bologna, is one of the most precious and prestigious collections of Italian puppets – puppets that, both in their homeland and in various parts of the world, for three centuries have marked the history of that miniature theatre that made even Plato reflect.
From the Hamlet by Pietro Resoniero (1640-1735) to the Madame Butterfly by Vittorio Podrecca (born in 1883 in Veneto and died in Geneva in 1959, where he settled after long international tours), these historic rod puppets were saved from oblivion thanks to two enthusiasts, Vittorio Zanella and Rita Pasqualin, who have dedicated so much love to them and a large part of the financial means acquired through the efforts of their work.
The exhibition is a new staging –this time motionless– of these characters who tell their hours of glory … when they performed in the Esterhàzy princes’ palaces in Wien or in Rome at the Cardinal Ottoboni’s one or, before the First World War, in front of the thousand spectators of the Royal Theatre of Turin, or again at the Teatro Gerolamo in Milan in front of an audience of intellectuals and artists, including Stravinsky and Gordon Craig.
Teatrino dell’Es also participates in the festival with a new show: The Little Prince, based on the famous book by Antoine De Saint Exupéry. The show, co-produced with Poletti’s company MUSICA TEATRO, is staged at the Teatro Foce in Lugano on November 4 (scheduled at 05:00pm and at 07:00pm).
The exhibition and the show will continue the tour in Switzerland: from November 25 to 28 they will be guest of the Festival Marionnettes du Monde entre rive et vignoble in Concise, also directed by the great master of puppetry arts Michel Poletti.
The activities of Teatrino dell’Es are supported by the Emilia-Romagna Region Culture Dept. The tour is made with the support of the Italian Cultural Institute in Zurich and the collaboration of ATER Fondazione.
Festival Internazionale delle Marionette di Lugano
