Fantocci lirici meccanici ConcordiaCastello dei Burattini - Museo Giordano Ferrari

Concordia Giuseppe (Asigliano 09/02/1882 - Vercelli 20/03/1962): the son of a farmer, saw puppets for the first time in a show given in Asigliano by the Giacomo Colla company and was very struck by the mask of Famiola who would later become the main character of his own theatre. He became part of an amateur dramatics company which he began managing in 1903: after some time the company went bankrupt and Giuseppe founded his first puppet company, together with Giuseppe Sereno (painter) and Giuseppe Lavarino (carpenter).

Foto di scenaCastello dei Burattini - Museo Giordano Ferrari

The première was Famiola Maestro di musica, but it was a flop, and Giuseppe’s colleagues left him. Despite this, he continued his activity and in 1905 he met and married Tersite Benente, the daughter of Romeo, a puppeteer who was one of Pio Rame’s teachers. This event marked the transition for Giuseppe from an amateur to a professional puppeteer. In the company, at first there was also Thersite’s brother, Emilio, who was to die during the Libyan campaign.

Famiola by Giuseppe ConcordiaCastello dei Burattini - Museo Giordano Ferrari

The main character of the company remained Famiola, but the repertoire was enriched both by canonical performances from the puppet tradition (to which fantastic elements were sometimes added), and by operas and operettas, as well as by variety and circus numbers.

Plancia per lo spettacolo ''Il giro nel mondo in 80 giorni'' by Giuseppe ConcordiaCastello dei Burattini - Museo Giordano Ferrari

The following titles were part of the repertoire: I gnomi luminosi, Berengario, Il guerriero nero, Le valige del Negus, La conquista dell’aria, La sorella dell’arabo, La forza del destino, Il paese dei campanelli, Fra Diavolo .

Plancia per lo spettacolo ''Il fornaretto di Venezia'' by Giuseppe ConcordiaCastello dei Burattini - Museo Giordano Ferrari

Thersite died in 1918 leaving, in addition to her husband, her children Esther, Lutualdo, Dolores and Germinale.

Manifesto per lo spettacolo ''L'elisir d'amore'' by Giuseppe ConcordiaCastello dei Burattini - Museo Giordano Ferrari

The area in which the Concordia company worked was always the north-west of the peninsula, that is, Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, and Emilia.

Manifesto per i Fantocci Lirici Concordia by Giuseppe ConcordiaCastello dei Burattini - Museo Giordano Ferrari

n 1923, Vittorio Podrecca contacted Giuseppe to join the “Teatro dei Piccoli”, but he preferred to beat his own path alone.

Fantocci lirici meccanici ConcordiaCastello dei Burattini - Museo Giordano Ferrari

In the 1950s, he retired from the scene and also his son Lutualdo, who had his own company, a few years later had to stop the activity which by then could no longer stand up to the competition from cinema and television. In 1967, all of the company’s material was donated by the Concordia family to Giordano Ferrari.

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