Dan Hurlin on Fortunato Depero’s puppet plays Dramma Plastico Futurista
September 09, 2015
Following his 2014 visit when he spoke about the puppet theatre of Futurist artist Fortunato Depero, Dan Hurlin returns to CIMA to read his translation of DRAMMA PLASTICO FUTURISTA, four short puppet plays written by Depero in 1917.
Over the past year, while researching the work of the Italian Futurists during a fellowship at the American Academy in Rome, Dan Hurlin unearthed four plays written in 1917 by Fortunato Depero, specifically for the puppet stage. Depero, author of the manifesto “Futurist Reconstruction of the Universe,” argued for a breakdown of the boundaries between “high” and “low” art. He created an important piece of puppet theater in 1918 entitled I Balli Plastici (The Plastic Dances) in collaboration with writer and Egyptologist Gilbert Clavel. The work was given eleven performances at Vittorio Podrecca’s Teatro dei Piccoli in Rome and was heralded as a clear manifestation of the Futurists’ desire to create a theater that celebrated the machine age and was free from actor intervention. Images from I Balli Plastici continued to suffuse Depero’s oeuvre throughout his long career. Many examples were on view in CIMA’s 2014 installation.
In 1917, one year prior to I Balli Plastici, Depero penned four other puppet plays known collectively as Dramma Plastico Futurista (Futurist Plastic Theatre). These were Suicidi e Omicidi Acrobatici (Acrobatic Suicides and Homicides), Ladro Automatico (Automatic Thief), Avventura Elettrica (Electric Adventure), and Securo (Safe). Written while Depero was staying with Clavel at his home on Capri, these short, wordless dramas are precursors to I Balli Plastici and mark the beginning of Depero’s long involvement with performance as well as his desire to combine all mediums and disciplines into one coherent, comprehensive “gesamtwerk.”
Join us for this special evening with Dan Hurlin and enjoy a rare opportunity to preview this work before its premiere in 2016 at Bard’s Summer Stage!
