Raffaele Pallavicini

Raffaele Pallavicini (Genoa 14/03/1874 - Novi Ligure 12/12/1957): the son of a wealthy family, he began acting in prose theatre, then working as a puppeteer in the companies of Ugo Ponti, Giovanni Pavero and finally in that of Luigi Ajmino, whose daughter Clotilde he married .

Clotilde (Spotorno 1874 - Novi Ligure 1968) was a much appreciated actress and puppeteer and the marriage marked the birth of the “Primaria Compagnia Marionettistica Raffaele Pallavicini”, which toured its shows between South Piedmont and Liguria, even arriving in Nice, and reaping great success.

Raffaele, whose main characters included Gianduja and Facanapa, is remembered as the creator of the Genoese mask “Baciccia”: in reality this already existed, since it can be seen in the posters of Ugo Ponti, but thanks to Raffaele the character became better defined, gaining wide popularity.

This is attested by A Baciccia, a poem in Genoese dialect printed on card whose title page reads: “Tribute to Raffaele Pallavicini, Director of the Puppet Company who oversees the scenes of the Politeama Garibaldi in Savona. On the occasion of the evening of April 18th, 1914.”

The repertoire of the company included about ninety productions, among which: Gran Cuore o Povertà e ricchezza with Baciccia as a desperate cobbler who becomes a millionaire; La donna lombarda ed il soldato piemontese with Gianduja as an invalid veteran; Baciccia guardiano di dame e confuso fra le stesse; Sansone e le sue prodigiose forze with Baciccia as a guardian of that tower of strength ̶ Faccanapa fighting against Samson;

La notte di S. Silvestro o un Ballo in maschera with Baciccia as a prince at the Ambassador’s Ball; Pietro delle Chiavi ossia La bella Maghelona with Baciccia as a faithful servant; Amleto principe di Danimarca with Gianduia as a gravedigger, a tragedy in 6 acts reduced by Dr. Enrico Tettoni; Cristoforo Colombo alla scoperta del Nuovo Mondo with Baciccia as a sailor and Faccanapa as a page.
All the shows had musical accompaniment.