A trilogy in which the theme of the sacred is mixed with the popular genre: these are, in a nutshell, the ‘Operette Apocrife’ conceived by the Brunello/Molnar duo. Three small dramas - ‘Blessed are those persecuted for the sake of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Dialogue between imprisoned Jesus the Nazarene and Pinocchio', “The Wizard of Balaton” and ’The Daily Bread. Baracca e burattini’ - inspired by the Gospel.
The last two, produced by the Biennale, are guests at the Alpe Adria Puppet Festival (‘Dialogue’ was premiered at the festival in 2005 with great success).
‘Il Pane Quotidiano’ (The Daily Bread) tells of Harlequin who, reduced to poverty, has lost his home and, rather than end up hanging with the other puppets in a museum, has chosen the street and begs for charity on the steps of the cathedral...
Here we will witness a puppet's prayer to the statue of the angel Gabriel with his golden halo, a sacrilegious theft, the collapse of a statue, the head of St Gabriel coming back to life and above all a secular Annunciation: Colombina will conceive a child and everyone will rejoice.
It is a comedy, as the puppeteer will tell the audience in his prologue outside the shack in his justification and exoneration, that is not his but was written by Colombina, a ‘wooden head’ among the most determined and long-lived in his repertoire'.
Gigio Brunello
This play, premiered this year at the Venice Biennale in the Carnival programme, moves as if on a thread, swaying between religious and iconic figures, between sacred and popular themes. A multiplicity of themes touched upon with acuity and irony, an ability to surprise, a desire to change the usual paradigms of interpretation.
