Presented by Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Sydney

Mimmo Cuticchio is the direct heir of an age-old traditional form of puppet theatre, The Teatro dell’Opera dei pupi siciliani, which finds its roots in the desire for chivalric and literary themes to become part of popular (street) theatre. 

The show presented, The great duel between Orlando and Rinaldo to conquer Angelica’s heart, is an example of modification of the narrative structure of the “Opra”, born out of the need to adapt the performance to a new audience. The language of the show is condensed, in order to give more prominence to the staging quality than to a thorough development of the traditional story. The stage techniques are highly accurate. The characters themselves have been somehow modified and their identities become recognizable in the course of the action, without having to interrupt the narration with long monologues.

Plot: Paris is about to be besieged at the same time as several Paladins have left Charlemagne’s court to go and look for Angelica, whom they have all fallen in love with. Even Orlando, who is the captain general and the bravest paladin, has left the court. Therefore, Charlemagne has no other option but entrust Rinaldo with the leadership of the French army. Countless battles, escapes, clashes with fantastic creatures ensue. Rinaldo also ends up neglecting his duties and, fallen in love with Angelica, tries to snatch her from Orlando. The two paladins challenge each other to a duel, and they would have certainly killed each other were it not for wizard Malagigi’s intervention.

The puppet theatre known as the Opera dei Pupi emerged in Sicily at the beginning of the nineteenth century and enjoyed great success among the island’s working classes. READ MORE