Mimmo Cuticchio


Mimmo Cuticchio is an Italian cantastorie, puppeteer, actor and playwright.

Life and career

Born in Gela, the son of Giacomo, a puppeteer who had a travelling theatre, Cuticchio inherited the family legacy and in 1973 founded the Teatro dei Pupi Santa Rosalia, an Opera dei Pupi in Palermo. The same year he wrote his first cantastoria play, Giuseppe Balsamo conte di Cagliostro. In 1977 he founded the association and stage company "Figli D'Arte Cuticchio".
During his career Cuticchio focused on renewing the arts of Opera dei Pupi and cantastoria, opening them to contemporary themes and to civil commitments. As an actor, he appeared in several films, notably playing a leading role in Emanuele Crialese's Terraferma. In 2022, he received an honorary degree from Roma Tre University.
In 2007, he won the Hystrio Award in the Teatro Festival Mantova.
In 2015 the collection of Sicilian puppets started by his father was acquired by the Sicily Foundation, and is now on display at Palazzo Branciforte, Palermo.

Filmography