SABBATICAL ADVENTURES

By the time I arrived in Bergamo I knew two things: 1) Arlecchino and Brighella are the two commedia dell'arte characters with roots in the city, and 2) somewhere in the city of Bergamo a statue to Arlecchino exist.  What I didn't know was that my arrival to Bergamo coincided with the 2023 Bergamo Brescia Italian Capital of the World Culture Festival. As soon as I knew of it, I quickly set out to figure out what theatre events, especially in relation to commedia dell'arte were happening. My search brought me to "The Puppet Theatre Museum," better known as "Il Museo del Burattino."  Here, I had the opportunity to learn the history of, and admire the many different types of hand puppets that had been created in the Bergamo region, along with learning about the invited Italian guests' collections representing China and Japan. The museum exists mainly thanks to La Fondazione Benedetto Ravasio and the collaboration of five other families from the Bergamo ...