THE theatre of the Italian Cultural Institute in Cairo hosted on Tuesday a puppet show entitled ‘Giufà World: Smart, Dumb and Wise', which was presented by Wamda troupe, famous for its shadow puppets, traditional puppets, aragouz, storytelling, folk music and folkloric dancing. The show was part of the institute's project, ‘Music and Theatre of Figure: a Bridge across the Mediterranean Sea', which aims to promote dialogue and exchange among peoples and cultures, in order to boost their knowledge and highlight the Euro- Mediterranean Partnership. The show started with two actors dressed in folkloric customs, both playing the character of Giufà. One of them was Egyptian, the other Italian. Although the dialogue was in both languages, it was easy for non-Italians to understand what was going on. The show helped children to pick up more Italian life via Giufà, the Mediterranean's most popular puppet. The troupe chose to present Giufà, because he is a bridge character, who lives in and is recognised in different cultures. He has multiple belongings, speaking several languages and familiar with several religions. "Giufà has settled in the Mediterranean, but his roots are far away, while the scene of his adventures changes continuously," said Nabil Bahgat the director of Wamda troupe. The story of Giufà (Goha as the Arabs pronounce it) has been retold and memorised over centuries of oral tradition. His character traits are visible in the folk characters of many Mediterranean cultures. Although Giufà is most often recognised as the ‘village fool', his actions and wordsusually provide us with a moral message, which makes us laugh. To prepare this story, Egyptian and European theatre operators, actors and educators worked together for a whole week. Gloves puppets were made with the help of some Egyptian children, who participated in easy workshops. The puppets were made from recycled materials, including newspapers, cardboard boxes and bits of fabric. ‘A Bridge across the Mediterranean Sea', funded by the European Union and the Italian Cultural Institute, also involves Helwan University's Faculty of Music. The project proves that dialogue between different cultures is possible, despite the so-called ‘culture clash' and incompatibility between East and West.
