The chemist and the grocer and the schoolmistress pay calls. They have
all sat self-consciously posed in the front of their boxes, like framed
photographs of themselves. The second grocer and the baker visit each
other. The barber looks in on the carpenter, then drops downstairs among
the crowd. Class distinctions are cut very fine. As we pass with the
padrona of the hotel, who is a Bavarian, we stop to speak to our own
padroni, the Di Paoli. They have a warm handshake and effusive polite
conversation for us; for Maria Samuelli, a distant bow. We realize
our mistake.
The barber--not the Siciliano, but flashy little Luigi with the big
tie-ring and the curls--knows all about the theatre. He says that Enrico
Persevalli has for his mistress Carina, the servant in _Ghosts_: that
the thin, gentle, old-looking king in _Hamlet_ is the husband of
Adelaida, and Carina is their daughter: that the old, sharp, fat little
body of a queen is Adelaida's mother: that they all like Enrico
Persevalli, because he is a very clever man: but that the 'Comic', Il
Brillante, Francesco, is unsatisfied.
In three performances in Epiphany week, the company took two hundred and
sixty-five francs, which was phenomenal.
Pages:
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142