In 1961 in Frascati, in the warm atmosphere of the Castelli Romani1, and later in L'Aquila, a conference was held, sponsored by the Ministry of Education, in conjunction with the International Festival of Puppet and Marionettes. I attended as a representative of the school which I taught in and which wanted to create a theater workshop. The enthusiasm that I felt at the Festival and the goodness of the end led me to stage, in just two school years, “The Liar” and “The Antique Dealer’s Family” by Goldoni, “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and “The Musicians of Bremen”, creating a theater workshop and engaging colleagues and students. The plays also had a soundtrack appropriate to the subject and the time. A good knowledge of music, which allowed me to read a score, my custom to attend Operas since childhood, frequenting the scenography course at the AA : BB with Toti Scialoja, the acquisition of the “sense” of the “theater in family”, being the cousin of Pietro and Enzo Garinei, attending quality directions at the theater “alla Scala”, where I worked as an assistant and a costume designer, encouraged me on the path who met my deep desire and pushed me to set myself a new goal : the Opera with puppets. The little or inexistent contact between the Opera House and common people in the city and even more in the province urged me to establish a relationship between these two worlds and I thought that puppets could honorably mediate the difficulties. I must emphasize that, if theater companies such as Podrecca and Colla and cities like Salzburg and Prague have always represented the Opera with marionettes, the use of puppets is new, as stated in a speech of Maestro Muti, who follows very carefully the “minimal theater”. To allow an easy approach, the choice was to represent not the entire Opera House, as it happens in the big theaters, but a partially reduced version, through wise recitatives links, enough to provide a play of the acceptable length of one hour and fifteen minutes, a play of music and prose inspired by the Opera but "tolerated" by the puppets. Also I considered that, if it is true that after 1946 the reopening of La Scala in Milan marked the start of a splendid period which brought the Opera around the world, it is also true that today it is moving towards an almost total disinterest of the general public, lazy because of the television and discouraged by the high cost of tickets. So I thought that the puppet theater could mediate many of these difficulties. But you had to free yourself from the preconception that the "stall" was merely the place where Punchinello clubs the Devil with a truncheon! So, with stubbornness, I personally designed and built a 3 meter for 3 theater in the Baroque style, along the lines of the ones we see in period buildings, complete in its essential parts but rich in decoration, with an Italian-style curtain and a structure for easy transport and placement. Mine is the choice of music and its reduction, the script, the creation of 12 scenes, the manufacture of 84 puppets, costumes and directing. As a first experiment, I chose the "Barber of Seville" by G. Rossini, because it is one of the most popular works among the public. Indeed, many people know “slander is a little breeze”, “Figaro here, Figaro there”, “a voice just now”, and even those who do not attend the Opera often use these expressions as playful refrains in conversation. The first performance took place in Rome at the Euclide Theater in June 1998, followed by eleven other performances in Italy in just three years, which participated in the Festivals of Todi, Spoleto, Feronia, Jesi and the Rossini Opera Festival, as well as the Telethon 2000. Currently, in addition to the "Barber of Seville", we perform “The Abduction from the Seraglio" by W. A. Mozart, "The Dirindina" by D. Scarlatti, "The Elixir of Love" and "The Bell" by G. Donizetti, "The Masks" by P. Mascagni, "The Furlana", "Livietta and Tracollo" and "The Servant Mistress" by G. B. Pergolesi. Other works are in preparation, recommended by Maestro Muti, who gives me his esteem and friendship and follows my work with great interest. Finally, I have been encouraged to continue not only by the specialized Press, but also by a variety of music and show business personalities who have offered me their cooperation and participation. And so, at the tender age of 93 years, I can do nothing but go on.. Renata Penta 1 The Roman Castles