Mario Plays: character notes

This subseries consists of plays written by Tagliabue, including a popular series of twelve puppet plays for children and adults called the Mario Puppet Plays which he wrote while living in Fiesole, Italy, in 1950. His wife, Grace, hand-sewed the puppets. Commenting on the imaginative nature of his plays, Tagliabue said, "An audience is a little skeptical of real people speaking in symbols. Whereas with puppets, which are symbols in themselves, they are more willing to suspend their rationality and accept the fantastic."