Shakespeare, a Galera and a Surreal World of Stage Objects

A heap of huge polystyrene letters that in a liberating outburst actors and spectators throw into the air, pages of books and paintings reproduced on huge panels, an old typewriter used by Mercutio to re-write his story, a suitcase containing ‘a tear shed for some personal pain’ in the hands of a man who asks to be remembered, a pyramid of skulls and a child’s bed are just a few of the numerous objects imagined by Armando Punzo, director of the Compagnia della Fortezza of Volterra, for his compelling Shakespeare productions. This essay analyses Punzo’s poetics of objects in his "Hamlice – Saggio sulla fine di una civiltà" (2010) and "Mercuzio non vuole morire – La vera tragedia in Romeo e Giulietta" (2012).