The Scorpioni Verdi and the Ragni Blu – two feuding families – make so much noise that the puppeteer herself wants to get rid of them. However, the Devil convinces her to grant him three days to make peace between the two families. But he cannot use his powers to do it. Instead, he will have to manage this by influencing someone else. The Devil meets Pulcinella and has him bring Areste Paganòs into the world. Areste then becomes the hero of the play. He elaborates a strategy to try and reconcile the feuding families: he will use the love between their children, Rosina Ragno and Rocco Scorpione. In this plot reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, in which Rocco and Rosina drink a poisonous mixture that should put them to sleep but instead accidentally kills them, Areste manages to fulfill his mission. The Devil brings the two lovers back to life and the joy they share at being reunited helps their families understand that they should not have fought. They all celebrate the young couple’s wedding.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

Broggini Walter

Pau Donatella

Murru Antonio

Italy

Cagliari

Printed

Love

Rivalry

Enemy families

Enemy

Devil

Rewriting

Shakespeare

Pathetic

Comical

Didactic

Italian

Pulcinella

Child

Mother

Father

Carabiniere

Mayor

Cardinal

Altar server

Cock, cockerel

Apparition of the Devil

Final intervention of the devil

Childbirth on stage

Accumulation of events

Fake death

Love story

Areste Paganòs e la farina del diavolo

Areste Paganòs and the devil's flour

Teste calde tells the story of patriot Angelo Pradman, a baker who defends Fort Marghera against the Austrian invasion in 1848. He is engaged to the young Teresa, housekeeper to the Austrian baroness, the wife of the Austrian general Standeiskj. Pradman is also a lover of the Baroness herself, and meets her at her home every Thursday evening. The patriot Moser entrusts him with a very delicate mission: to sneak into General Standeiskj's house and get some rifles. Pradman tells Moser that it will be very easy for him, as he has free access to the Baroness's house. Teresa has heard everything and decides to take revenge: she sends a letter to the baroness in which she tells her that her lover, the baker, is talking to everyone about their love affair. The Baroness, in response, sends the General an anonymous letter informing him that Pradman will attempt to enter his home the following Thursday. The mission turns into a massacre: four of Pradman's comrades are killed in Standeiskj’s garden. Only Pradman manages to save himself, but for this he will be killed by his comrades who take him for a traitor. A few years later, another patriot, this time a true double agent, would have a successful career in the kingdom of Italy.

Manipulated object

Not specified

Brunello Gigio

Molnár Gyula (aka Giulio Molnár)

Mogliano Veneto

Unfaithfulness

Treason

Deception

Deceived deceiver

Italian unity

Realist

Storie del Risorgimento

Narrator

Pharmacien

Priest

General

Baroness

Patriote

Change of size on sight

Letter

Deceived naivety

Peasant accent

Story

Change of social status

Murder on stage

Teste calde

Hot heads

Two actors, first dressed up as gorillas, relate murders using a ventriloquist dummy and paper toys. The killers – represented by articulated heads – confess the reasons behind their crimes and reveal several details: the arms they used, the time it took for the victims to die, or the amount of blood they shed. They killed out of vengeance, passion, or even because of daily trivial conflicts. The killers’ heads often wear banners asking for forgiveness, and some crimes are told using shadow theatre. After reading each story, the actors stop to sing a nursery rhyme and play a clapping game. The show ends with a murder on stage.