It is a Christmas tableau aimed at children, lasting half an hour and in two well-differentiated parts.

The first part is in Spanish, except for the dialogue between the narrator and Tirisiti. Narrates from the birth of Jesus to the flight to Egypt, according to the Gospels of Saint Luke (until the adoration of the shepherds), Saint Matthew (the passage of the Kings) and the Apocrypha of childhood (the legend of the palm tree and the miraculous harvest). It is a sacred auto driven by a narrator, with few interventions by Tirisiti and some improvised dialogue. The fast action, the beating of some characters, the noises and the accent are resources that hint at a healthy and popular style that will become explicit in the second part.

The structure of the second part is very close to the sainet and there is only a weak dramaturgical line that brings together very diverse characters and situations in which the comic and very participatory character predominates. The scene changes to Alcoi and the adventures of Tirisiti and his wife begin; Tirisiti's voice is made by the manipulator with the traditional tongue to amplify the voice of the puppeteer, although the clarity is lost in the hearing. Popular characters such as the Sereno, the Sagristà, the Beates group, Agüelo, the Clásico bullfighter, the Capellà, the Monesillo, the Moors and Christians and Saint George appear in this part. The incorporation of Alcoi sayings, characters and tales of life has been constant over time and it is likely that some will lose relevance over time and others will survive to shape the current Tirisiti.

As for the technical aspects, the puppets move along a grid of guides that cross the stage in different directions. These guides are a remnant of the route that the dolls took when they were attached to the traditional mechanism, with which they appeared on the scene without needing any manipulator. Currently, the puppets are attached to a wooden base that hides the metal rod that the puppeteer manipulates from below. In addition, since some of the main characters have their arms and one of their legs free, when they are moved or turned they make movements that cause surprise and hilarity from the audience.

In the 1880s there were already three companies representing him in Alcoi: El Tio Sarguero, Pepe el Cullerotero and Josep Esteve Carbonell. From 1904, Pepe Esteve, a Bethlehem man, merged the three businesses and prepared two nativity scenes which he exhibited for a few years.

During the decade of the forties of the twentieth century it lives its moment of fullness, while from the sixties it often changes owners and spends long periods inactive. In 1973, the Asociación de Amigos y Damas de los Reyes Magos takes over, but the period of performances will be short because the summer of 1975 the building where the performances were held collapses and Bethlehem is completely destroyed. The initiative to recover it is taken by the Alcoi City Council, which has restored the puppets, the stage and the small theater where it is performed every year. In addition, in this last stage the theater company La Dependent is responsible for representing it.

Bethlehem provides us with one of the links that connects the ancient religious altarpieces with the traditional representations of our days. It has become a source of documentation to reconstruct the physiognomy of the city of Alcoy and follow the evolution of aspects such as the relationship between social classes, urban transformation, festivals, customs, language, etc. .

On November 26, 2002, the Ministry of Culture of the Generalitat Valenciana approved the declaration of Intangible Asset of Cultural Interest in Bethlehem of Tirisiti.

Beyond, Michael Bordering history. Valencian puppets, from Bethlehem of Tirisiti to independent companies. Albaida: MITA publications, 2000.

The Bethlehem of Tirisiti on Wikipedia

The Bethlehem of Tirisiti on the website of the Aj. of Alcoy

Videos of Bethlehem of Tirisiti

Text by Roser Soler Piera written in the Encyclopedia of Catalan Performing Arts of the Institute of Theater of the Provincial Council of Barcelona.