CARLO COLLA & FIGLI

COMPAGNIA MARIONETTISTICA
The founder of the Carlo Colla and Sons Company was Giuseppe Colla, born in Milan in 1805. The Colla family had a small business in Milan, but at a certain point, due to political unrest in the city, they lost the business and had to leave Milan and set out traveling. To support the family in their wanderings, they began to put on shows for paying audiences with the little marionette theatre that Giovanbattista Colla, the father of Giuseppe, had created to entertain his children, friends and relatives in evening get-togethers back in Milan.

No specific records remain of the travels of the early years, but in 1835 the family began to keep a master record book with the names of all the repertory and where they performed. This book is very accurate up until 1851, and then there is a break of some 10 years, probably due to the illness and eventual death of Giovanbattista in 1861.

On his death, the marionettes and other material for the theatre were divided among his three sons, Antonio, Giovanni and Carlo, who each started his own company.

From Giovanni’s company grew The Marionettes of Gianni and Cosetta Colla, still in existence today, and Carlo’s theatre grew into the Marionette Company Carlo Colla and Sons.

There is a master book with information about all of the performances and developing repertory of the
company since its inception in 1863. All four surviving children of Carlo Colla and his wife Teresa Lucotti joined the company, and under the joint leadership of these four, the company developed Excelsior (after the ballet created for La Scala to celebrate the turn of the century – in this case, as with many of their re-creations of the grand operas of La Scala, the performances are the only existing documentation of the blocking and scenery of those performances, and are still performed exactly as the originals were a century ago), Around the World in Eighty Days, Christopher Columbus.

From 1906 until 1957 the company, which by 1906 had a collection of more than 300 marionettes, each one with many rich costumes, had a permanent home in Milan at the Gerolamo. These 50 years of stability allowed them to build up a vast repertory of shows, a huge collection of marionettes and costumes, and to perfect their works.

In 1957 they were forced to move out of their theatre because it was to be torn down, but they continue to be a regular feature of the theatre in Milan, and have also toured worldwide.

Adults as well as children can appreciate their shows, which are as beautifully detailed, full of humor, as well-executed and enjoyable today as 100 years ago.