«The missing wife» it’s a comic monologue that follows the Commedia dell’Arte ’s tradition, also called “Pulcinellata”, which is a specific kind of theater show in which the main character is Pulcinella, the most famous Neapolitan mask.
Pulcinella , in fact, was played by Silvio Fiorillo and many others Neapolitan actors such as Andrea Calcese, Antonio Petito, Eduardo De Filippo and Massimo Troisi.
The Plot
In “The missing wife”, Pulcinella’s wife, Zeza, now tired of her husband’s lazy behaviour, decides to abandon him and leave the country. Pulcinella, regretting his mistakes, emigrates from his beloved Naples in search of his wife. Alone and abandoned,Pulcinella will have to face the innumerable misadventures he will encounter on his way relying only on his great spirit of survival,
the main characteristic of the mask.
Historical background
The Commedia dell’Arte was born in Italy in the 16th century and since then it has spread throughout Europe.
Due to the Commedia dell’Arte, theatre becomes professional and we witness the birth of the «actor» as we know it today and of the Modern Theatre. The main characteristic of the Commedia dell’Arte is that the
play it’s not based on written texts, but on the «canovaccio», also called «scenario». The canovaccio is the plot of a dramatic work divided into acts and
scenes, with the description of the actions and their development, but without any line for the actors . The actors on stage will then have to improvise the dialogue.
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Marco Ziello
ACTOR, TEACHER AND THEATRE DIRECTOR. He graduated in Performing Arts in 2014 in University of Bologna in Faculty of Humanities, specialising in Commedia dell’Arte. He also graduated in the School of Drama «Teatro Azione» in Rome directed by Cristiano Censi and Isabella Del Bianco (2007). He specialized in the Commedia dell’Arte with teacher Antonio Fava (since 2009). He is Artistic Director, with Licia Amarente, of the Drama School On Teatro Formazione Cultura» of Salerno. He studied Clown and Buffon with Antón Valén (clown in Cirque du Soleil). He studied with Norman Taylor, Claudia Contin, Ferruccio Merisi, Miriam Villalobos, Belén Gordillo and Eric Davis. He also studied Storytelling with Giancarlo Fares, who directed his play «Il Silenzio» (2011).
He has been collaborating with the company Caracò as an teacher and actor in the shows «Questione di un attimo» and «Ofelia in the dog days» theatre director Alessandro Gallo and «Era Tuo Padre» theatre director Carlo Caracciolo. He performed together with Antonio Fava (company ArscomicA) in several productions «Le Astuzie di Coviello» «Amaca a tre piazze» and «Mimus Albus Comedy», from 2010 to 2014. Since 2016 he has been on tour with the show «The Missing Wife» (Italy, Finland and Australia). In Dicember 2018 he worked as Author, director and actor for the show «Caro Fratello» with company De.Co.Vo. choreographer Olga Ziello. Since 2011 he has been collaborating with «Porvoo Theatre» (Finland), as a teacher of Commedia dell’Arte, as a director in the shows «Sunnuntai Saapuu» and «Mahtava Markkanen» and as an actor in the show «Mustalaisleiri Muuttaa Taivaaseen». As teacher he’s taught in different workshop and masteclass of Commedia dell’Arte in Finland at Borgå Folkakademi of Porvoo, Nelosteatteri of Kotka, Teatterikuume of Porvoo, Kulttuurikeskus Sähinä of Helsinki; in India at Drama School of Mumbai and Akshara Theatre of New Delhi; in Australia at The Hub Studio in Sydney and Centro Culturale italiano of Canberra; and in Spain Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático of Extremadura. He collaborated with «Theatre ntS'» of Naples and «Forum Universale delle Culture Napoli e Campania» in the project «Living Naples»: an international workshop of Commedia dell’Arte. Artistic Director and teacher of the «Comic body and Commedia dell’Arte» international workshop «La Corte Ospitale» of Rubiera, and «Palazzo Fruscione» Salerno, Italy. From 2017 to 2018 he worked as theacher of Commedia dell’Arte at the Drama School «L.A.A.V Officina Teatrale in Salerno, Italy. From 2018 he teaches in different theatre courses in Umbria at Cantiere Oberdan of Spoleto and at Auditorium Santa Caterina of Foligno. He speaks italian, english, spanish.