Harlequin before Harlequin: the devilish origins of the most beloved mask
On Saturday 28 March at 4:30 pm, the Teatro Peroni in San Martino Buon Albergo — a few kilometres from Verona — wraps up the Evoluzioni theatre season in style with a show that blends tradition, irony and wonder. On stage "That devil of a Harlequin", written and performed by Paolo Rech, one of the most original puppeteers and performers on the Italian theatre scene.
An afternoon designed for everyone: from 4 to 99 years old, as the show itself states.
Before becoming the clumsy, good-natured servant who appears in piazzas all over Italy, Harlequin had a much darker past. His ancestors — Alichino, Hellequin, Herlaking — led the Wild Hunt, a mythological procession of spirits and ferocious beasts that sowed terror on Alpine and Northern European nights. From demonic figure to comic mask: the transformation is long, fascinating and almost always forgotten.
It is precisely this journey to the origins that lies at the heart of Paolo Rech's show, which retells the story of the most famous mask of the Commedia dell'Arte with a contemporary, light touch. The techniques used are those of the great tradition: the Commedia dell'Arte and the Veneto puppet theatre, reworked into a language that is accessible, fun and able to capture adults and children alike.
Paolo Rech brings to the stage fifty years of live theatre — fifty minutes, to be precise — the result of twenty years of professional career on stages around the world: from Argentina to Sweden, from Spain to Guatemala, all the way to Bolivia, where he has taken the Italian masks even into outreach contexts, bringing smiles to hundreds of children. Winner of numerous international awards and artistic director of festivals in Veneto and Trentino, Rech is today one of the leading figures of figure theatre in Italy.
The show is off-subscription, so it is also accessible to those who do not follow the regular season of the Teatro Peroni. Tickets are available at €7 (full) and €3 (reduced): a quality cultural offering, designed to suit families.
If you are also interested in other ongoing events in Verona, read "Via Pál": a children's literature classic on the Veronese stage and Eugenio Finardi at the Teatro Salieri in Legnago: "Voce Umana" for 50 years of career.