In the backstage of the Sicilian marionettes show (opera dei pupi): Mimmo Cuticchio’s students tried to explain to the public what happens behind the scenes of a theatre. With two shows, on Saturday and Sunday at the Teatrino dei Pupi in Bara all’Olivella street in Palermo, the project “Primoteatro” ended. The project was created by Figli d’Arte Cuticchio for the third consecutive year with the support of the Regional Department of National Heritage and Cultural Activities on the theme “The chivalrous epic in stories and Opera”. Mimmo Cuticchio is the most important heir of Sicilian storytellers (cuntisti) and the art of making marionettes, which are today part of UNESCO in the list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

In 1977 he founded the Association Figli d’Arte Cuticchio, for the safeguard of the Sicilian marionettes theatre. The young student of the school for marionettes and storytellers - Donato Pichi, Valentina Vecchio, Patrizia Boccone, Carlotta Papeschi, Serena Boccanegra, Giusi Parisi – proposed “Dietro le quinte” (backstage), a practical demonstration in which the public followed the process of staging, manoeuvring and acting of the marionettes without the curtains of the theatre. A deep journey into the systems of the “Opra”, to be learnt and discovered through the students’ hands, guided by Mimmo’s son, Giacomo Cuticchio, who, despite the direction of many shows, still considers him an “ongoing” student.

Translated by Chiara Nunnari from John Milton Institute