MISTERO BUFFO, FEMALE PARTS

It is a show that is based on the resurrection of ancient texts of popular tradition, which had been lost. They were invented by jesters, wandering actors, often persecuted by the authorities. The only trace left of the stage cloths and the texts of these medieval jesters are some stories and the notes of some scribe passionate about theater. Paper at that time was very expensive and then these notes were written on the edges of the notarial acts. There was little space and therefore they were synthetic annotations, with the title of the single scenes and little more. At the end of the sixties some university professors asked Dario if he could understand something. Dario did not know what to answer and took these texts home to talk to Franca about it. When Franca read the medieval notes she immediately realized that they referred to theatrical situations that she had acted as a girl, they were tea towels that contained the indication of plots and dialogues that were part of the tradition of the Commedia dell’Arte. And, extraordinary aspect, over the centuries they had kept, almost unchanged, the same titles.