Lane or the sirens of Radcliffe Highway, calling them, in fact, exactly
what they are not. According to the plot of the play, Pantalone is an
old merchant of Rimini who arrives in Venice with his family. Colombina
is his daughter, and was played, of course, by Belviso; Arlecchino and
Brighella are his simpleton sons--they were the manager and myself. Il
Nanno was Punchinello, his Neapolitan servant, Il Dottore his travelling
physician. They come ashore in the quarter of the Furlani, and all the
zest of the play lies in the equivoque which contrasts the knavery of
the inhabitants with the naivete of the visitors. Pantalone's family is
fair game. A bully called Truffaldino poses as a marchese and wins the
affections of Colombina; Brighella is entrapped by a Donna Furlana into
a promise of marriage; the Dottore finds himself engaged to cure half a
dozen of the same sort of ladies of the maladies incident to their
career; finally, Pantalone is claimed as their long-lost uncle, who was
supposed to have abandoned them in their days of infant orphanage. Such
promise of diversion as this imbroglio had, it was rendered still more
to the taste of the audience by the license which the actors allowed
themselves. Belviso was perfection as the simple country girl; one could
hardly credit a lad of his age with such niceness of observation, such
humorous yet whimsical representation of an honest, foolish young woman
flattered by the attention of a villain. His "La la," his "Sissioria,"
and "'Lustrissimo, si!" which marked so well the growth of self-esteem;
his finger in the mouth, his twisting apron-corner, which betrayed
embarrassment when the siege was too vigorous; his "Io non so gniente,"
when sheepishness was the only defence--here was the highest art of the
stage. I, as Brighella his brother, aped him as well as I could. I was a
clown, tickled by, yet pondering, the hardy advances of a baggage, who,
in the expert person of Pamfilo, was only too well performed. If it was
my business to look a fool, God knows I played better than any. The
audience stormed us with delight, and I do believe I was having my share