Through Watson Arts, internationally acclaimed Italian company, Teatro Del Carretto, presents an adult adaptation of PINOCCHIO by Carlo Collodi at The Annex at LaMama ETC. As MARIA GRAZIA CIPRIANI (Co-founder/Director) states, “Pinocchio's destiny appears, quite literally, theatrical;” and thus Teatro’s interpretation of the classic tale reveals a hauntingly surreal, avant–garde investigation of a boy’s destiny and ultimately, his human identity.
Teatro Del Carretto’s production of PINOCCHIO is not your traditional children’s fairytale. CIPRIANI collaborates with fellow co-founder, scenic/costume designer, GRAZIANO GREGORI to deliver a story that resonates with such a subconscious element of humanity that the Italian language, in which this is performed, is no longer a boundary. The artistic team communicates a youth’s almost spiritual journey of self-awareness from the omnipotent Geppetto’s creation of the wooden boy, to the foreseeable mistakes as a juvenile, to the encounter with the good intentions of La Fata, to his atonement in labored chores for his father and carnival ring master, and finally, to understanding his freewill as a man. Through theatricalities of the stage, surrounding sound effects and music (sound by HUBERT WESTKEMPER), lighting effects (lighting by ANGELO LINZALATA), masks, and props, the ensemble is awakened through Pinocchio’s spirit to enact the characters that he encounters.
The superbly dedicated ensemble cast creates abstracted movement in this surrealistic world that conveys pathos, humor, tragedy, and hyperbolic humanity, akin to Commedia dell’arte influences. When Giandomenico Cupaiuolo (Pinocchio) reluctantly wears the nose, his charmingly disentangled body, flailing humorously to control the runaway nose, abruptly constricts its muscles and freezes, contorted under the new mask. Cupaiuolo’s endurance in the use of his voice and his body throughout the physically demanding performance is an amazing feat. Elsa Bossi (La Fata) plays a spry, clever metaphysical creature with great agility and breath of character. Her doll-like movements contrast effectively with her occasional matronly moments and enhance the theatricality of the story. Giacomo Pecchia, Giacomo Vezzani, Nicolò Belliti, Jonathan Bertolai, Carlo Gambaro, and Elana Nene Barini collaborate to create the characters of the deceitful cat and the fox, the dancing rabbits, the ringmaster, the Master of Toyland, and a snail-like friend to La Fata. Through their use of exaggerated physical movement, props, masks, and set, the creatively endowed ensemble carries the weight of the world of this aesthetically innovative puppet-like play from beginning to end.
Teatro Del Carretto’s production of PINOCCHIO transposes the audience from the theater into a surrealistic storytelling of the traditional tale with great artistic quality. For a darkly comedic, but human understanding of the fairytale, see this Italian production of C. Collodi’s classic, before they return to Lucca, Italy.
(This production is in Italian, but the playbill provides a brief outline in English of the scenes.)
