The Opera dei Pupi ( in Palermo, in Catania; ) is a marionette theatrical representation of Frankish romantic poems traditionally performed in Sicily, Italy.
Inscribed in the UNESCO's List of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2001, it dates back to the third decade of the nineteenth century, and was particularly successful among the middle and lower classes, becoming one of Sicily's most significant expressions of history and cultural identity.
The puppeteers (named pupari) animate the puppets to represent episodes of serialized stories derived from epic-chivalric literature of medieval origin, with particular reference to the Carolingian cycle; and in a more limited manner, from the Arthurian novels. All these stories were elaborated in The History of the Paladins of France, written by Giusto Lo Dico, that is a "compilation of the Italian chivalric poems of the Renaissance in which the French literature of the Middle Ages was freely modified". Published in handouts since 1858, the work written in prose brings together and re-elaborates the poems of cultured literature such as Orlando innamorato, Orlando Furioso and Gerusalemme Liberata.
The traditional repertoire of the shows also include historical-romantic narratives, stories of brigands, works by William Shakespeare such as Romeo and Juliette and Macbeth, and short farces.
History
It is difficult to establish when and where the Opera dei Pupi was born. "The chronicles say that the initiators of the Opera in Palermo were Don Gaetano Greco (1813-1874) and Don Liberato Canino, while in Catania they were Don Gaetano Crimi (1807-1877) and his antagonist Giovanni Grasso (1792-1863)". The so-called pupi in page (that is, without armor) certainly preceded the armored ones and were used to represent Sicilian tales and farces, which are still performed today. Studies also show that from the 16th century, shows of chivalry were staged with puppets throughout Europe; and in the 18th century such shows also took place in Sicily and Naples (being represented in the theater of Giuseppina d'Errico also known as "Donna Peppa").
However, only in the first decades of the nineteenth century, in Sicily, did the chivalrous repertoire achieve such resounding success as to supplant all the others and determine a series of technical and figurative innovations.This was probably due to the delayed effect of the pre-romantic and romantic style of the Middle Ages; but it is also a consequence of ingenious technical inventions which made it possible to give extraordinary effectiveness to combat scenes which become a sort of exalting dance, with a crescendo rhythm and which arouses an intense psychomotory participation in the audience.There are numerous studies dedicated to Sicilian Opera dei pupi. The most recent research by Ignazio E. Buttitta, Bernadette Majorana, Alessandro Napoli and Rosario Perricone followed the historically fundamental contributions of Antonino Buttitta, Antonino Uccello, Janne Vibaek, and Carmelo Alberti. Furthermore, we cannot fail to mention the fundamental studies of Giuseppe Pitrè and Sebastiano Lo Nigro as well as the book entitled Opera dei pupi by Antonio Pasqualino (Sellerio 1977). Narrations and memories of the puppeteers themselves can also be added to this short list.
Over time, the Opera dei pupi has gone through some periods of serious crisis: Giuseppe Pitrè recorded its decline at the end of the nineteenth century; a new crisis dates back to the 1930s and was due to the spread of cinema; the most recent one, and even more incisive, is that of the Fifties and Sixties when the popular neighborhoods of the cities began to empty and to reject traditional culture began to be rejected following the spread of new forms of economic well-being of the consumerist era. Despite these difficult periods, the Opera dei pupi is still practiced today by various companies of the Island, companies which haver an ancient or more recent history and attract new audiences, showing a renewed vitality.
The proclamation of the Opera dei pupi as a UNESCO "Masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity" in 2001, upon a candidacy supported by the Association for the conservation of popular traditions, has greatly contributed to relaunching the attention on Sicilian traditional puppet theater. Being the first Italian practice to obtain this important recognition, in 2008, it was registered in the Representative List of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, following the Italian ratification of the Convention for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage of 2003.