DOI chapter:
Chapter IV: The Neapolitan Character - The Lottery - Camorra, etc.
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.59000#0151
Naples
translated, and has spread into France ; but the other,
in which his true talent lies, is, so far, too little known.
As far as the Neapolitan drama goes, most clearly
can the French influence be traced there, but in a diluted
and impoverished form. The theatres of Naples seem
to me at a very low ebb. The playwright-actor,
Scarpetta, is not strong enough to revive it to full
life; but he has instilled into it his quaint humour,
bold and confident acting, and immensely improved
scenic display. His plays treat of the bourgeoisie,
who are easier to parody than the noblesse, but some-
what tiresome in the very truthful nature in which he
depicts them. The one really original work to which
Scarpetta can lay claim as an author is the piece
entitled La Miseria e Nobilta. There is in it a
macaroni scene which would alone endear it to the
Neapolitan mind. But one is struck in all dialect
plays here by the quantity of talking, compared with
the dramatic movement. The voices of the Neapolitan
actors, when not actually screaming, are so strangely
monotonous, their enunciation so rapid and restless,
that attention is apt to flag. The history of Scarpetta
himself is striking enough. By sheer energy he has
risen from poverty to wealth. He is the owner of
several palaces and villas, from which extravagance
has from time to time driven him. Up on the
Vomero may be seen the villa on which Scarpetta had
written the gay inscription, “ Qui rido io.” But a
temporary change of fortune changed it suddenly into
“ Qui ridiamo noi,” when the bailiffs occupied it.
72
translated, and has spread into France ; but the other,
in which his true talent lies, is, so far, too little known.
As far as the Neapolitan drama goes, most clearly
can the French influence be traced there, but in a diluted
and impoverished form. The theatres of Naples seem
to me at a very low ebb. The playwright-actor,
Scarpetta, is not strong enough to revive it to full
life; but he has instilled into it his quaint humour,
bold and confident acting, and immensely improved
scenic display. His plays treat of the bourgeoisie,
who are easier to parody than the noblesse, but some-
what tiresome in the very truthful nature in which he
depicts them. The one really original work to which
Scarpetta can lay claim as an author is the piece
entitled La Miseria e Nobilta. There is in it a
macaroni scene which would alone endear it to the
Neapolitan mind. But one is struck in all dialect
plays here by the quantity of talking, compared with
the dramatic movement. The voices of the Neapolitan
actors, when not actually screaming, are so strangely
monotonous, their enunciation so rapid and restless,
that attention is apt to flag. The history of Scarpetta
himself is striking enough. By sheer energy he has
risen from poverty to wealth. He is the owner of
several palaces and villas, from which extravagance
has from time to time driven him. Up on the
Vomero may be seen the villa on which Scarpetta had
written the gay inscription, “ Qui rido io.” But a
temporary change of fortune changed it suddenly into
“ Qui ridiamo noi,” when the bailiffs occupied it.
72