L’opera dei pupi apula. Etnografia di un teatro che cercò di brillare di luce propria.

Puppet theatre in Apulia. Ethnography of a theatre that tried to shine with its own light Abstract The theatre of animation has ancient roots in southern Italy; sporadic evidence of its existence dates back to 1600, becoming more frequent in 1700. More detailed information can be found from the early nineteenth century. Information about the names of the companies, the type of puppets, the shows we found in archival documents, in the permits that entrepreneurs forwarded to the authorities to give shows. Naples, Sicily, Palermo and Catania in primis are the most sought-after places by the companies. The presence of different types of animation shows is rooted and defined in these cities. The “pupo” a corpulent puppet, heavy, showy, often armed with sword, knife, stick was widely used in the theater cycles that were inspired by Charlemagne, Orlando and Rinaldo and in those that tell the exploits of bandits, camorristi, mafiosi loved by an audience that perceives them as popular heroes. In this essay we deal with another region in which the theatre with puppets became established, Apulia, generating a strand with its own particular charateristics concerning the stories staged, the recurring characters, the techniques of animation and acting.