In a distant time, three forms of punishment were directed at the ancient city of Nanjing; a blue monster that destroyed fields and devoured arms, a many-headed hydra that threatened to destroy the entire city unless it was given a young woman as a sacrifice, and a spell-bound knight that guarded a bridge and killed anyone that tried to cross it to leave the city walls... Il Mostro Turchino, a “tragicomic tale” written in 1764 by Carlo Gozzi – Goldoni’s historical rival – comes to the stage in puppet form. It is the oldest script belonging to the historical archives of the Carlo Colla & Figli Company, the work of the puppeteer Giuseppe Fiando from 1815 and probably never before performed by the company. 
The play, which has been totally rewritten in a more contemporary form that the original, maintains Gozzi’s typical structure, with a plot that brings together fable, satire and social protest, all set in parallel to the grotesque nature of the work, which is highlighted by the presence of the masks of the Commedia dell’Arte, with the figure of Truffaldino substituted, as Strehler did, by the bettern-known Harlequin. 
Love, passion and loyalty are the feelings tested by spells and magic that looms over the characters of a society rendered fearful and afflicted by the presence of wizards, monsters and bewitched knights.
As well as the new stageplay, the staging also saw the composing of stage music focused on a neo-classical form of post-modernism, the creation of new characters with new sculptures and new costumes, the creation of new sets and the invention of technical tricks that will further enhance the little puppeteer company Carlo Colla & Figli.