The Italian Cultural Institute of Montreal is pleased to present Gianluca Di Matteo and Irene Vecchia, Italian puppeteers internationally recognized as masters of the Italian traditional interpretation, who will delight the Italian Cultural Institute with the vitality and energy of their art. The latter is a traditional performance featuring Neapolitan puppets, suitable to a public of all ages, for treating any kind of pain.
July 4, 2018 6:30pm
Italian Culture Institut
1200, Avenue du Docteur Penfield
Free Admission
The “guarattelle” shows are the Neapolitan puppet shows par excellence and are an ancient oral heritage of theatrical wisdom. The etymological meaning of guarattella, a Neapolitan dialect term, indicates “a situation that although it is very simple is easily made very tangled“. Drawing from ancient canvas, shaping the show on the public, improvising in the chronicle, staging new ideas, the shows of Pulcinella are always funny, irreverent, cathartic and animated by an unstoppable rhythm. Even though we know the story of Pulcinella, the desire to see the show again is renewed at every staging: in the puppet theatre there are no passive spectators, there is action and involvement. For 500 years this tradition has been stratifying and finding new expressive forms, for 500 years puppeteers have met their public, and enliven their days with battles of sticks and daring escapes. For 500 years, despite all his mishaps, Pulcinella has never died.
The careful manipulation, the strength of the gestural language and the pressing rhythm are the heart of the Pulcinella that Gianluca Di Matteo and Irene Vecchia have been staging for years with their traditional shows of Neapolitan puppets.
Gianluca Di Matteo studied at the Neapolitan School of puppet theatre and now he performs traditional canovaccios making use of puppets or shadows that he himself creates. He works mainly abroad, where he’s hosted by the International Festival of Marionette Arts and by theatres specialized in puppetry. He also collaborates with the Italian Cultural Institutes and conducts both practical and theoretical workshops focusing on the art of guarattelle and on shadow plays. He also builds the scenography for his and other companies, he works as stage technician and his wooden puppets are exhibited at the Centre for Puppetry Arts of Atlanta.
Irene Vecchia began her puppeteer/guarattellara activity in 2002 with the conclusion of the “Scuola delle Guarattelle”, the first training experiment for puppeteers in the Neapolitan tradition. She continues her training by attending courses and seminars as an actress and puppeteer, in 2010 she graduated in Visual Arts and Discipline of Entertainment at the course in Stage Design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples. She presented the performances of guarattelle in very different environments: from the streets of Naples and the lacking social realities, to international festivals of theater in Italy and Europe. It has received national and international prizes and awards.
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