The spirits of Lent have been captured, and must pay for their crimes.
This folk-play was recorded in the Veronese countryside by Count Arrigo Balladoro. Villagers would perform it in private homes for a night's entertainment. By the time it was transcribed, the Lenten tradition it referenced was out of practice, and even the villagers didn't know that it had once been a holiday show. "La Vechia" seems to be the equivalent of the English Jack-o-Lent, a scarecrow made of straw that was ritually burned to celebrate the end of the fasting.
A traditional show, from an 1898 transcription
Translated by Talia Felix, 2024
CAST:
Doctor
Arlechin, his servant
Carneval, the spirit of the Carnevale personified
Notary
Old Lady Lent, the season of Lent personified
Old Man Lent, ditto
The Son of the Old Lady
Damsel
Nippers
Two Bailiffs