Educational Media Reviews Online

Sicily is no stranger to tragedy and tragic stories, having suffered numerous conquests in its long history. As we hear early in Rehearsal for a Sicilian Tragedy, “The Sicilian doesn’t think about the good things life might bring him, but the bad.” Roman Paska’s homage to Sicilian storytelling attempts to share this perspective through the lens of puppetry. Divided into three sections (Ash, Clay, and Salt), Paska gives viewers a taste of the rich history of Sicilian puppetry by following co-executive producer and actor John Turturro as he learns from veteran puppeteer Mimmo Cuticchio. Paska intersperses Turturro’s exploration of his cultural ancestry with segments on his tutelage with Cuticchio and his efforts to prepare for a potential film project. Rehearsal for a Sicilian Tragedy’s main flaw, however, is that it suffers from a lack of identity – is it a film about Turturro returning to his family’s roots and Sicily’s impact on his upbringing? Or, is the film’s primary intent to examine the Sicilian puppeteering tradition and Turturro’s desire to make a film with this subject as its theme? Paska’s attempt to meld these two threads into a cohesive narrative falls short, leaving viewers unsure of the intended audience. Still, the cinematography is well executed, and the individual themes are compelling when taken on their own. Rehearsal for a Sicilian Tragedy will be useful for public library travel and cultural history collections or for academic libraries supporting theatre or puppetry programs.