For the whole of September there has been a small group of people moving about Barga Vecchia at strange hours of the day. None of them ever carried cameras or looked like the usual tourists during the summer season. If people tried eavesdropping on their conversation they would have heard a mixture of English, Italian and French being used by the group as they chopped and changed from language to language with apparent ease but probably the most disturbing aspect of this group was the fact that for a lot of the time there seemed to be a small dwarf in their midst. Upon closer inspection the dwarf turned out to be a puppet who was being handled and carried by one or two members of the group. This morning things became clearer and we can now set the record straight. Who were these people?

They were a group of artists from a co- production by the Assocciazione Sarabanda, Festival della Scienza Genova and in collaboration with Archos-Creac from Marsiglia France who were rehearsing inside the Teatro dei Differenti for a new stage production called “Modifiche al Silenzio” which will have its world premiere at the Festival della Scienza later on this month in Genova.

They were here rehearsing in Barga because of Amy Luckenbach who is collaborating on the project drawing on her vast expertise producing puppet theatre. The figure that has been seen being carried around the city and is in fact essential to the whole show was a puppet created specially by her company Teatro Minimo. Amy and her puppets were last seen in Barga for the very successful A-Ronne and Novissimum Testamentum during the Opera by the Festival 2004

The theatre company assembled by Boris Vecchio, who is also the lead actor in this piece, brings in a vast array of talent of various professions and countries.

Boris Vecchio is an actor/clown/mime (and that really should be “Clown” with a capital C) - as he follows the long tradition of performers with huge presence who manage to make even the most simple movements and gestures eloquent, poetic and imbibed with meaning.

Antonio Caporilli from Genova - well-known in his field as a dancer and mime artist but also noted for his installations and performance work is instead this time working as one of the puppet animator’s along with:

Lital Tyano - originally from Israel but now based in Paris, where she attended the famous Marcel Marceau international mime school and runs her own puppet company.

Chloè Moura - the tightrope walker who trained with the circus school of Châtellerault, France

full article and loads of images here

ciao
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