THE JESTERS’ CHEST
“The Jesters’ Chest” contains a couple of dozens of masks, hats, the odd cloak, some vests, rags, wooden swords and little else. The essential luggage for a fascinating journey through the history of comical theater. “The Jesters’ Chest” is the title of an anthology of show-conferences about theater, it’s actors, it’s tricks, it’s characters, it’s plots … it’s history.
Each evening offers the audience a trip on a specific theme, a reading of the history of theater from the point of view of it’s main characters, strong archetypes, present in 2000 years of theater. The repertoire of these eternal characters is extensive and Teatro Strappato’s work to bring them to the stage never ends.
We will see scenes from the likes of Plauto, Sofocles, Moliere, Shakespeare, Lope de Rueda, Góngora, Giulio Cesare Croce, Gozzi, Terencio, Goldoni, Tirso de Molina, Boccaccio, Lope de Vega, Jonathan Swift, Calderon de la Barca, Macchiavelli, Euripides, Ruzzante , Victor Hugo, Balzac, Cervantes, Ariosto and many others.
We will discover that the force of comedy travels unstoppably in time and that theater has been, is and always will be a magnificent mirror of mankind.
“The Jesters’ Chest” is a show in which theater narrates its autobiography, an evening at the theater to remember, learn and dream.
PHOTOS
THE ART OF COMEDY
The characters of “Commedia dell’Arte”
Three great motors drive men, and therefore subsequently, the stage, both in drama and in comedy: love, money and hunger. Teatro Strappato introduces the “machinery” of art comics, starting precisely with what moves it.
A repertoire that travels from Plautina Comedy to the Spanish Renaissance will be the pretext to introduce the viewer to the birth of “Commedia dell’Arte”, from its first steps in Italy with Greco-Latin inspiration, to its expansion on European stages.
“The Art of Comedy” is a dynamic conference that always changes, Teatro Strappato adapts the repertoire and themes according to the occasion.
ORPHEUS
Music, love and death
with Teatro Strappato and Cantoría
The myth of Orpheus is a ship to travel through the Renaissance and classical culture. It inspired the first Opera: Monteverdi’s Orpheus and the greatest writers of all times tell us, each in their own way, this story of music, love and death. In this frame the infernal past of Arlecchino emerges and the tragedy of Orpheus will end up turning into a comedy.
“A myth is always symbolic; for this reason it never has a univocal, allegorical meaning, but lives an encapsulated life that, depending on the place and the humor that surrounds it, can explode in the most diverse and multiple blooms “
Cesare Pavese
PASO A PASO
El art of the comedy of Lope de Rueda
“Paso a Paso” – “Step by Step” is a show that revives a figure such as Lope de Rueda: the actor, the playwright, the businessman, the vagabond. It will be following his steps, those of Lope, that we will will enter the fascinating theatrical world of the sixteenth century, to get know the taste of that period and we will end up understanding why it is said that the secret of true art is that it never dies.
The Baroque scene is the jewel of Spanish theater and as Teatreo Strappato we consider it a duty, as professionals of this trade, to transmit to the new generations the poetic and historical value of something that belongs to us all, our cultural heritage. The linguistic and stylistic distance of these texts make them a pleasant reading for few, but it is theater’s job to give them life and bring out the humanity within, to return them to their audience, a popular audience in the highest sense of the term.
Some elements of “Commedia dell’Arte” and its masks will help to shape this nostalgic rite of theater, a tribute to the first actor-dramatist of importance in Spain, the Spanish brother of art comics, a figure surrounded by mystery, Lope de Rueda.
LAZARILLO
The most famous anonymous
One of the great enigmas of the history of Spanish literature is who wrote the masterpiece of the picaresque novel “The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes”, one of the best descriptions of the moral corruption in which sixteenth-century Spain was immersed.
In this conference-show we will accompany our anti-hero Lazarillo on a journey through the history of his life, we will recognise in his masters the great archetypes of Renaissance theater and we will laugh (so as not to cry) listening to his misfortune and adventures.
Teatro Strappato offers with “Lazarillo” an opportunity to approach this great literary myth and discover that what makes classical literature classic is not its antiquity but its eternal validity.
REQUIEM FOR THE MASKS
Goldoni and Gozzi: Story of a theatrical reform
Teatro Strappato presents a conference show that will transport the audience to one of the most important moments in the history of Italian theater, the Goldonian reform. We will find the real and imaginary characters that staged this theatrical dispute.
In “Requiem for the masks” scenes of the theatrical fable “Le tre melarance” by Carlo Gozzi alternate with moments of contextualization, accompanying the audience on a round trip in history. This show awakens in the audience the eternal passion for theater that will always make us love these two great authors.
SHARPENERS OF DECEPTION
The comics of art traveled through cities of sixteenth-century Europe as knife sharpeners, drawing public attention. But in his case they did not sharpen knives, but deceit.
The oldest comical formulas are deception and entanglement, one character pulls another’s leg, a misunderstanding or a scam of which the public is always the only accomplice. This recurring comical formula is the subject of “Sharpeners of deception”, an evening in good company, enjoying several experts in lies: a passionate Don Juan, a clever servant, a bizarre charlatan and many, many victims.
CABARET 1500
An ancient comic rite
The squares were the real theaters of the Renaissance. In the markets, fairs or simply in the church square the actors and puppeteers improvised with four wooden slabs and two rags a “temple” of comedy and fun. They entertained the audience with their numbers and comic scenes, just like in our century with cabaret shows.
Cabaret 1500 is a tribute to them, a theatrical evening in the square with old scenes of immortal comedy, numbers with fire, live music and, as always with “The Jesters’ Chest”, many curiosities and laughs.